The Help Solution
by Clint Cooper
Summary: After the season 8 finale Amy,Bernadette and Penny have a girls night where they agree to help with each other's problems.
1. Chapter 1

"What?" Bernadette was shocked "So you broke up with Sheldon?" Amy had just told her friends what she decided to do with all the stress she was feeling from her relationship.

"No I didn't break up with him." Amy had to clarify "I just want a break from our relationship so I can figure some stuff out."

"I'm sorry." Penny said as she put her arm around Amy to comfort her "We'll both be here to help if necessary." Amy smiled at Penny. She was happy to have friends at times like this.

So much had happened recently that the three of them thought it would be necessary to have a girl's night to discuss it all. As Amy didn't want to see Sheldon at Los Robles and Bernadette was having trouble to evict Stuart from her house they decided to have it at Amy's apartment. They opened a bottle of high quality wine and Amy ordered a pizza that they were now sharing.

"How was the trip to Las Vegas Penny?" Amy decided to change the topic.

"It was ok." Penny began to explain "As you know Leonard and I decided it was best not to get married. He told me about this girl he kissed when he was at the North Sea and whilst I was initially shocked I ended up not being particularly annoyed by it. In the end it was him who decided that it was probably best to not have that bad energy between us when we got married and he said we should wait some more." Penny sighed.

"That is unfortunate." Bernadette said in a concerning tone.

"So instead we just spent some time in Vegas. We went to casinos and saw some shows. It was actually a great bonding experience for us." Penny smiled happily as she told that part of the story. Amy was secretly jealous of the life that Penny had. Penny finally was engaged to a very nice guy and now had a stable and well-paying job whilst she was just a neurobiologist with a boyfriend who was…Sheldon.

"But unfortunately since we got home Leonard hasn't wanted to talk about marriage anymore." Penny said sadly "I am finally ready for commitment and he doesn't want to anymore."

Bernadette and Amy both shuffled over to her and tried gave her a comforting hug. She wiped a tear from her face and looked towards Bernadette. "Let's change the topic. How is it with your life Bernadette?"

"The only big news I have is that Stuart is STILL living with us." Bernadette said angrily "But I did hear some stuff about Raj."

"What did you hear?" Amy and Penny asked in unison.

"He wants to break up with Emily." Bernadette explained.

"Why?" Penny asked "I thought Raj was happy to find a girl who wanted to be with him."

"Yes Emily seems to like Raj a lot and Raj likes Emily a lot too." Bernadette clarifies "But he is really crept out by her. Raj told Howie and me that she wanted to have sex with her in a graveyard."

"Ew." Penny scrunched up her face into an expression of disgust. "That is gross."

"Actually." Amy interrupted. "I imagine as a scientist of the body that the experience would be very enjoyable for her."

Both Bernadette and Penny looked at Amy with weird expressions on their faces. Amy immediately then felt social pressure to clarify what she said "But still gross." She agreed.

The group fell into silence and all three of them took bites of their pizza.

"I really want Stuart to leave our house." Bernadette said.

"I really want Leonard and me to get married soon." Penny admitted.

"I really want Sheldon to put more effort into our relationship so it can continue." Amy almost cried.

"I really hope Raj sorts his problems out with Emily." The three of them said.

They went into silence again and began internally reflecting on what they all said. "I have an idea!" Penny finally interrupted this quietness "We could all help each other to solve our problems."

"And how would we accomplish this?" Amy asked curiously.

"Well since Sheldon and I are good friends I can help him be a better boyfriend to Amy! And Bernadette can talk to Leonard about our marriage and Amy can talk to Stuart about moving out." Penny explained.

"Do you really think Leonard would listen to me?" Bernadette asked.

"He would if you got Howard to help." Penny suggested.

"And why would Stuart listen to me?" Amy asked.

"You dated him once and I know from experience that he has a crush on anyone he once dated." Penny explained.

"You mean use my sexuality and feminine charm to persuade him." Amy said excitedly "That is oddly titillating."

"Sure Amy." Penny looked awkwardly at her. "And to finish it all we can have a girl's night and invite Raj over to solve his problems."

"I think we could make this work." Bernadette said.

"Yeah!" Amy agreed.

Penny grabbed her glass of wine which was recently filled and raised it into the air. "Let's toast it."

The other two raised there glasses in the air but Penny noticed they were empty.

"It is bad luck to toast with no drink." Penny said.

"There is no wine left Penny." Bernadette said. "Which is weird because I only had half a glass."

"I only had one glass." Amy concurred.

The two looked at Penny knowingly. They began to laugh with each other.

Penny should have been annoyed. But she just smiled.

#

"Since the girls are having a night of fun I thought we should to." Howard said amidst a night with the guys at Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. "I have the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One Blu-ray Box Set which I pried from Stuart's greedy hands. I thought we could watch Iron Man, skip Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, and then continue with Thor, Captain America and The Avengers."

He looked at his three friends who all turned towards him from their position on the couch and gave him an angry look.

"What?" Howard said defensively.

"I'm not in the mood." Raj muttered.

"Same." Leonard and Sheldon said as well.

"Why?" Howard said "Are you all manstruating?"

"I failed to break up with Emily." Raj told them. "We ended up having sex instead."

"In a graveyard?" Howard remembered what he told him and Bernadette.

Raj lowered his head in shame "Yeah…"

"I'm not sure Penny and I are ready to get married." Leonard admitted. "Before Vegas I thought we were but I told her something and it completely changed our dynamic even when we were having fun at all the casinos and stuff."

"Amy….." Sheldon began to say but he stopped himself and just sighed.

"What is wrong Sheldon?" Raj queried "Oprah says that the best way to get through an emotional experience is to talk to trusted friends."

"She said she wanted to take a break." Sheldon admitted "I don't even know what that means."

"It means she dumped you." Howard said reactively.

"Howard…" Leonard reprimanded disapprovingly.

"That is not true at all!" Raj said "I know Amy. She just needs time to re-evaluate." Sheldon looked at Raj with a confused expression but said nothing.

"So what now?" Leonard asked. The group sat in silence until Howard began opening his Blu-ray set.

"Howard do we really need to watch a movie?" Leonard asked.

"It is time to stop worrying and let Iron Man soothe your pain." Howard comforted as he put the disc into the Blu-ray player. The group sat in silence as the Marvel logo displayed in front of them.

"If only we had someone to help us solve our problems." Leonard said to himself.

"Yeah." Sheldon said out-loud.

"Damn your Vulcan hearing." Leonard rolled his eyes.

 **First chapter of this story. I'm not sure where to take this even but I really wanted to get this idea out of my head and onto the page. If you like it please favourite and follow. Please also review so I know what you think of the story. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Because Bernadette and Penny had been drinking at their girl's night Howard picked them up after the boys had finished watching Iron Man. The other guys didn't want to continue the Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon like he wanted too because they were all depressed about their problems. After the couple said goodbye to Penny at Los Robles Howard began to think about what would occur when they returned home.

"I hope Stuart is not just sitting on the couch eating ice cream in his boxers like the last time he was by himself." Howard complained as he drove.

"That is an image I cannot get out of my brain." Bernadette agreed "Like seeing your mother in her bathing suit."

"You know it might be too soon to make jokes about my dead mum!" Howard quickly glared at Bernadette. Bernadette immediately felt embarrassed. She always knew she had a certain cynical side which sometimes slipped past the filter in her mind.

"Sorry Howie." She apologised sincerely. "But whilst we are talking about Stuart the girls and I discussed an interesting proposition to solve our problems."

Howard was curious by this notion. "What is this proposition?" he asked.

"We all decided that it was a great idea for us to help each other out. Penny would help Amy, Amy would help us and we would help Penny."

"How would we help Penny?" he asked.

"We would just talk to Leonard about how great our marriage is and he'll want to marry Penny again." Bernadette tried to explain.

"Are you sure about this Bernie?" Howard thought about this as he looked in his rear-view mirror "I don't want manipulate their relationship."

"Howie they are in love so we won't be manipulating them." Bernadette justified "We'll just be giving them a little push."

"I don't know about this Bernadette." Howard stuttered as he was clearly nervous at disagreeing with his wife.

"Howard if you don't help me I'll hide your XBOX again." Bernadette threatened.

This was almost a deal breaker for him but he managed to resist and shook his head in disagreement. He knew that taking away his XBOX would also disadvantaged Stuart which he found himself liking. His wife wasn't the only one with a dark side.

"If you help me with this Amy will get rid of Stuart for us." Bernadette told Howard.

"Really?" Howard was instantly interested in this statement.

"She is intending to be very persuasive." Bernadette explained.

"Then definitely yes." Howard changed his mind. "Anything for someone to get rid of him."

Bernadette smiled. The girl's plan was beginning to be put in motion.

#

The next day was Saturday which meant Sheldon would be doing laundry that night. Sheldon is a creature of habit which meant his actions would be easy to anticipate. Penny for once picked up the clothes on her apartment floor and put them in a washing basket. Sheldon's Laundry Night began at 8:15 so at 8:05 Penny grabbed her clothes basket and went down the stairs to do her laundry. She threw her clothes into the machine and waited for Sheldon to appear to turn it on so it looked like she wasn't there just to talk to him. Sheldon arrived right on schedule at 8:15 and when Penny heard him coming she began to put her laundry on.

"Oh hi Penny." Sheldon greeted. He gave her a robotic smile and then moved over to a machine.

"Hi Sheldon." Penny tried to seem perky. "So how have you been?"

"My existence is a continuum so I've been what I am at each point in the implied time period" Sheldon iterated. Penny hoped he would have said something about his problems with Amy "I've also been tired often but that would hardly interest you." Sheldon began putting his clothes neatly into the machine.

"Why have you been tired?" Penny asked.

"Since you do actually seem interested I'll explain. I've trying to analyse my sleeping patterns to find a hypothesis." Sheldon told Penny and she nodded like she understood "I've finally figured out that my lack of sleep is due to a form of depression."

"Oh the Amy thing." Penny said as if she didn't want to bring it up even though she did.

"Yes the 'Amy thing'." Sheldon put quotation fingers up around what Penny said. After a few seconds Sheldon's facial expression changed suddenly like he had a universe changing idea "You're a female."

Penny jokingly looked down at her breasts and nodded. "It seems that I am." Sheldon gave her a confused look and she giggled a little. "I was joking." Sheldon gave a fake laugh as he put his last item of clothing into the machine.

"Why did you say that I was female?" Penny asked curiously.

"I think you can help me translate from the language of the females." Sheldon explained "Amy told me 'Being your girlfriend is so challenging. Emotionally, physically. I've been incredibly patient for years.'"

"Okay." Penny listened.

"So what does she mean?" Sheldon asked.

Penny smiled as she didn't even need to offer help as Sheldon readily wanted it. "She just wants you to commit more to the relationship." Penny explained. Sheldon listened as he grabbed out a special measuring cup and poured in some washing detergent. He put it on the bench and knelt down to look at it at eye level. "What are you doing?" Penny wondered aloud.

"I'm making sure it is exactly right." Sheldon explained "The meniscus tricks you if you don't look at it at eye level."

Penny had no idea what he was talking about so she awaited Sheldon's response to what she said before.

"But I am committed to the relationship." Sheldon felt confused.

"She obviously feels differently." Penny said.

"I don't understand what else to do." Sheldon closed the machine lid after he finished with the detergent and pressed the start button. "I have changed my hygiene rules about touching and kissing, I have let her in my room without too much complaining, I said I loved her on many occasions and….." Sheldon was going to say something but then stopped himself.

"And what?" Penny asked.

"It is not important." Sheldon said quietly.

"I can't help you unless I know everything." Penny tried to convince him.

Sheldon took a deep breath and began to feel nervous. "On the night that Amy decided to take a break I was actually going to propose marriage to her."

"What?!" Penny shouted out loud accidentally.

"I thought since you and Leonard were going to finally get married and since Amy and I needed some form of levelling-up in our relationship that it was our turn." Sheldon explained "I understand if you wish to mock me."

"Mock you? Sheldon this is great but…" Penny thought for a second "But Amy won't come back to you let alone marry you unless you show you are committed."

Sheldon sighed sadly. "This relationship stuff is the first thing I have failed at since that cockamamie teaching I was forced to do."

"I have to help!" Penny felt weirdly excited by this new revelation "I will teach you how to act and show you how to be committed."

"You would really do that for me Penny?" Sheldon asked "That seems like a momentous task that you probably won't be able to."

Penny decided to ignore that slight insult and nodded her head. "Do you want to come over to my apartment tomorrow?"

"Okay I guess you have been romantically linked to enough men to know about this topic." Sheldon said "But please don't tell Amy any of this. I know I hate secret keeping but I want to be the one to tell her about the intended proposal."

"Definitely Sheldon I promise." Penny held out her hand "Pinkie Swear?"

"Did you take a marijuana?" Sheldon exclaimed and winced at the thought of it. Penny laughed.

#

Amy was at her apartment and was planning what she was going to say to Stuart to convince him to move out. She looked in her clothes cupboard and saw the variety of outfits she had in front of her that she could wear when this would happen. The next day Bernadette and Howard were going to go out and she was going to go to their house then and return a cooking utensil that she had 'borrowed'. Stuart would open the door and she would accidentally drop it a few times and bend over to pick it up.

"No Way!" She exclaimed as she shuddered at the thought of doing that. Maybe she would need to take her jacket off because of the heat and Stuart would see her…. Amy shuddered again.

She then saw the perfect outfit to wear the next day. It was one of the ones Sheldon gave her during one of their ritual gift swappings which according to the relationship agreement they had to agree upon a definite amount of money beforehand AND they had to show receipts as proof that was the amount they actually spent. She stood still as she thought about Sheldon and for a moment she forgot that they were on a break. She then went out of her daze, took the outfit out of the cupboard and smiled. This would definitely be the one.

 **Sorry there was no Leonard or Raj and not much Amy in this chapter but the stuff I want to write about them would be better left for the next chapters. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first. Thank you to all those who followed and favourited and if you haven't please do so. Also review so I know if you liked it. Thankyou** SRAM, bamadude, aliceindeepdarkwonderland, **Shamylover and** Stardustvixen **for reviewing the last chapter. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

Amy woke up on Sunday early as she knew she would at some time receive a text from Bernadette saying that they left their house. She grabbed a box of Honey Puffs from her kitchen and poured it into a bowl. She remembered the reason why she bought a box of Honey Puffs in the first place as it gave her good a memory of a time she spent with Sheldon. When they had built their fort and had a G-Rated sleepover she woke up the next day to discover it was Sheldon's routine cereal day so he poured her a bowl. As they ate he told her all about his current physics research and she attempted to interest him with her most recent addiction study. She realised that the cereal made her think of Sheldon and pushed the bowl away from her. She walked out of the kitchen and towards her bedroom where she had hung her day's outfit.

It wasn't a sexy outfit or anything but it appealed to Sheldon so she hoped it would also appeal to Stuart. It was a Captain America shirt with a giant shield on it and an Iron Man jacket. She remembered getting angry at Sheldon for getting her a gift he would wanted instead of what SHE would have wanted. Amy realised she thought of Sheldon again and put it out of her mind. She put on the outfit and smiled. Even though she didn't like the outfit when Sheldon gave it her she had to admit to herself that she looked like a geek's dream. She put on some whoreish make up and awaited the text. Soon her phone buzzed and she checked it.

 _Howard and I have left to 'play video games' with Leonard ;) –Bernadette_

Amy quickly grabbed her car keys, a spatula to give 'back to Bernadette' and left to drive to their house. She drove there in record time and rang the house's door bell. Stuart opened the door and looked almost stunned at Amy's attire. Amy also shared a similar expression as Stuart had answered the door in his underwear. He looked tired as if she had just woke him up.

"Hello Stuart." She tried her sexiest voice.

"Amy, hi." Stuart stuttered a little. Amy tried to stand in sexy pose by leaning against the door. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Amy walked into the house and tried to seem like a runway model as she did so. "I'm just here to return this spatula that Bernadette let me borrow." Amy traced her fingers seductively along the utensil. She noticed Stuart gulp.

"Well I'll give this to them when they return." Stuart kept glancing from Amy's body to the floor and back again.

"That would be very helpful." Amy paced forward closer to Stuart.

"Umm….." Stuart was lost for words.

"You know what would also be helpful." Amy looked straight into Stuart's eyes.

"What?" Stuart asked like he was in trance.

"If you found your own place." Amy suggested.

Stuart suddenly went out of his supposed trance. "Wait what?"

"You know a place where you would be alone…." Amy tried to imply something.

"I'm alone all the time Amy." Stuart looked confused "Howard and Bernadette are often not here."

"Yeah but it is weird to do anything….." Amy said seductively "In a friend's house."

"I guess I could consider it." Stuart began going red.

"Text me when you decide honey." Amy improvised. She couldn't believe she just said honey. From Stuart's facial expression it seemed he couldn't believe it either.

"Nice shirt and jacket by the way." Stuart said awkwardly.

"I got it especially for you." Amy winked. Stuart swallowed nervously once again.

"I think you should go now." Stuart was still confused. Amy smiled at Stuart and walked sexily to the door once again. She said goodbye and left.

"I think that went well." Amy congratulated herself as she went back to her car.

#

Bernadette and Howard were walking up the familiar staircase to Leonard's apartment.

"I hope Amy can convince Stuart to leave." Howard said "Otherwise we will be doing this for no reason."

"Don't worry about it Howie." Bernadette reassured "Now we just need to concentrate on showing Leonard that marriage is a good idea." Howard nodded. They both had planned what they would do he went over it again in his head as they neared apartment 4A. Bernadette knocked on the door and Sheldon opened it.

"Are you playing video games with us Sheldon?" Bernadette asked.

"No I'm going over to Penny's apartment to….." Sheldon thought about a lie to say "Chat."

Howard looked confused but he assumed it was about Penny helping him. Leonard walked out of his bedroom and saw the three of them.

"Hello." Leonard said "What game do you want to play?"

"I can play Mario Kart." Bernadette told him. He grabbed Howard's arm affectionately and looked lovingly at him "What do you think my Howie Wowie?"

"I think that is a great idea my lovely beautiful wife." Howard acted extra caring. He put his hand around Bernadette and brought her close. Sheldon who was still there looked at Leonard in confusion. Leonard shrugged back.

"I'm going to go before the three of you begin having coitus." Sheldon said almost casually as he left the room.

Howard and Bernadette sat down next to each other on the couch and snuggled. Leonard turned around to see them and was almost taken aback by their PDA.

"Um… Here is your controllers. "He said awkwardly as he gave them a Mario Kart Wii remote. He grabbed his own and selected his character which was Luigi.

"Who do you want to play as my honey bunny?" Bernadette asked cutely.

"If we play as Mario and Princess Peach we can be a couple." Howard said as he hugged Bernadette tighter. Leonard hoped that the two of them didn't start making out in front of him. He pressed play and the first game began. Leonard ended up winning as Howard and Bernadette were too hands on with each other to concentrate on the game. Howard's gaming experience in the end got him fourth place whilst Bernadette was in 12th.

"You play so well my sweetie." Bernadette told Howard. This made Leonard suspicious as sweetie is Penny's trademark phrase.

"Oh you were so good as well." Howard complimented.

"Excuse me." Leonard interrupted their congratulatory speeches. "I won!"

"You did great too Leonard." Bernadette said "But Howie is my yowie mowie lowie."

Leonard just was in shock so he stood up to get a drink of water from the fridge. "Are you two on drugs?" Leonard asked them after he took a sip.

"We just love each other sooooooo much." Howard smiled at Bernadette.

"Being married is sooooooo good as we get to comfort each other and be there for each other no matter what." Bernadette complimented marriage.

"Okay…." Leonard stood awkwardly.

"Marriage has changed my life and I am happier than I have ever been before." Howard boasted "Thank you Bernadette."

"It takes two to tango my loving, sweet, caring, cute, adorable and sexy husband." Bernadette listed all the adjectives she could think off. Leonard was still stunned.

"You know what?" Leonard began. "I'm tired. Sheldon was moping around last night and I couldn't get any sleep so I'm going back to bed. Let yourselves out." Leonard walked hurriedly away and the married couple heard his door close.

"Did that go well?" Howard asked.

Bernadette smiled at Howard and said silently "Leonard will be at the altar with Penny in no time."

#

 _Knock Knock Knock_ "Penny" _Knock Knock Knock_ "Penny" _Knock Knock Knock_ "Penny"

Sheldon completed his ritual knocking. He was happy to have gotten away from whatever was happening in his apartment. Penny opened the door and smiled when she saw Sheldon.

"Hey Sheldon." Penny said "Are you ready for me to help you?"

"Yes I am prepared to begin this Help Solution." Sheldon nodded "I couldn't sleep last night so I read some books by noted psychologists about commitment including from Leonard's mother."

"I think that is the problem here Sheldon." Penny told him.

"I don't see a problem anywhere." Sheldon looked confused.

"Relationships aren't something you can just fix using science and logical thinking." Penny explained "You need to be less scientist and more boyfriend."

"And how would I accomplish that?"

"Amy explained the whole situation to me." Penny began "The one thing I noticed was that your relationship is very one-sided."

"What do you mean one-sided?" Sheldon asked.

"You ALWAYS use the relationship agreement to get your way, the relationship goes at whatever pace YOU want," Penny told him "AND when you are kissing someone you are meant to be thinking of them and not some stupid TV show."

"The Flash." Sheldon reminded "But I do see your point. I need to be respective of what Amy wants."

"Exactly." Penny agreed.

"But how do you do that?" Sheldon wondered aloud.

"Well I'll give you an example. When Amy asks how you are you should ask back" Penny said.

"Even if I don't care?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah even then." Penny answered. "Another example would be kissing. Even if you are thinking about something else you should say 'Amy I love you' or something else romantic."

"How do I know what to say when?" Sheldon asked.

"If you want we can do a practice." Penny suggested "Like an acting exercise."

"That seems reasonable." Sheldon agreed. "You should start."

Penny put on a pair of glasses she had kept to pretend to be Amy. She put her arm around Sheldon affectionately and said "Hello Sheldon…"

"Please don't touch me." Sheldon winced.

"Remember Sheldon I'm Amy and Amy would feel this kind of touching is an intimate bonding experience." Penny reminded. Sheldon nodded like he understand. "So Sheldon. Do you want to go to my basket weaving class?"

"You know I hate basket weaving Amy!" Sheldon said.

"This is another place where you need to be less selfish." Penny explained "You need to be more interested in what she is."

"Even if…"

"Yes even if you aren't."

"But she doesn't even care about what I am interested in!" Sheldon rebutted "I got her an Iron Man jacket for a birthday gift and it has just been gathering dust in her closet."

"Do you want her to get back with you or not?" Penny reprimanded. Sheldon nodded quietly.

"Okay I'm going to fake kiss you now." Penny said "I want to hear your response." Penny pretended to kiss Sheldon which made shudder a little.

"Amy I love you." Sheldon said sincerely.

"I love you too." Penny said involuntarily. The two stood awkwardly as she still had her hands around him. Sheldon abruptly realised this and lightly let go.

"OK well…." Sheldon stuttered "I'd better go. Bowel movements to make." Penny nodded awkwardly and Sheldon quickly left the apartment.

Penny sat down on her couch in amazement. "I hope that went well." She told herself.

#

Raj sat in his apartment as Cinnamon was adorably giving him kisses on the cheek. Raj began to replicate these kisses until his phone buzzed with a text.

 _There is a special screening of Entanglement of 1000 Corpses on Saturday. Wanna do that on our date? – Emily_

 _Isn't that movie infamously bad? – Raj_

 _Yeah. So do you want to go? - Emily_

Raj typed no into his phone but couldn't pull himself to press send. He couldn't just say no to Emily and destroy their relationship. He was too worried he would be a lonely loser again. He backspaced that and typed in:

 _OK- Raj_

Raj sighed to himself. He was so whipped.

 **Thanks for reading this chapter and I hoped you enjoyed it. Sorry if it seems too long but I had a lot to write. I just want to make it clear that this is not a Shenny story and the original couples are whom this story will follow. It may seem like there is some in this chapter but that was just something to cause trouble. Please continue to favourite and follow and reviewing as I love hearing all your feedback which is more positive than I expected. Thankyou** bamadude, Stardustvixen, SRAM, aliceindeepdarkwonderland, Shamylover, kimbee73 **and a guest for reviewing. Love you all :D.**


	4. Chapter 4

Leonard, Sheldon and Raj stood in the newly renovated comic book store. They stood around the comic-book stacks quietly as they all seemed to be in deep thought. Stuart was also working there. He was standing behind the counter waiting for someone to buy something.

"Where is Howard?" Sheldon broke the silence "Is he no longer interested in comic books?"

"No, nothing like that." Raj said "He is having dinner with the in-laws. He complained about it to me today at work."

"I just assumed he and Bernadette were going to a hippy love-in to PDA." Leonard shuddered.

"Why would you say that?" Raj asked with a confused expression on his face.

"They were acting really weird the other day." Leonard told them "We were playing Mario Kart and they were acting very chummy."

"I am unfamiliar with what is considered socially acceptable with PDA." Sheldon expressed "Were they like holding hands or having coitus?"

"They weren't having sex but they were cuddling very intimately and they seemed like they were high." Leonard explained.

Stuart saw the conversation that had started and walked over to the group.

"That is nothing compared to the weird I recently experienced." He interrupted.

"Really?" Leonard said in disbelief.

"Amy came to my house..."

"Howard's house." Sheldon corrected

"Yeah and she began to seduce me." Stuart explained.

"What?" Sheldon was in shock and reactively hit Stuart's shoulder "SHE IS NOT FOR YOU!"

"Sheldon don't do that!" Leonard reprimanded and he saw Stuart rub his own back "And Stuart when a girl looks at you for a second you think she is seducing you."

"But this was different." Stuart continued to explain "She was tracing her fingers sexually on a spatula and walked like a supermodel. She even bought an Iron Man jacket because I would like it!"

"She never bought an Iron Man jacket." Sheldon still was angry "I got that for her AND she would never wear it."

"Maybe in her break from you she is trying out other options." Raj suggested but then he saw Sheldon glare at him so he looked down at a comic book.

"How am I meant to show her that I am committed if she is looking for other guys?" Sheldon asked "That is not something that Penny helped me with."

"What do you mean help you?" Leonard asked confused.

"She just wanted to show me how to respect Amy as a girlfriend and I did end up learning some vital information." Sheldon told him. He thought to himself for a second "Now that I think about that the whole situation with her was also weird."

"How so?" Leonard queried.

"She began touching me and then she said she loved me during a practice exercise." Sheldon explained. "I couldn't tell if it was real or fake."

"It took me years of a romantic relationship for that to happen and one help session and she is saying it to you." Leonard shook his head furiously.

"To be fair you did kiss someone on the boat." Sheldon reminded. "Could be a revenge tactic."

"You are right Sheldon!" Leonard said in realisation.  
"Maybe at their latest girl's night they took some drugs." Stuart suggested "Would make a lot of sense." Leonard, Sheldon and Raj nodded in agreement.

After a second of silence the group heard Rajesh's phone buzz. He rolled his eyes as he took his phone from his pocket.

"It is probably Emily texting me details for the Entanglement of A Thousand Corpses screening." Raj sighed. He looked at the text and actually smiled.

"What is it?" Leonard said when he saw this. "Did she cancel it?"

"No Penny just invited me to the next girl's night on Friday." Raj said. He started doing a dance and sang the chorus of Happy. The other three looked at each other in embarrassment.

"I see why he would fit in there." Leonard joked. Raj stopped and looked at him sternly.

"Maybe you could find out what is happening with them." Stuart said. Sheldon nodded in agreement.

"I can try." Raj said. His phone buzzed again and he saw another text from Penny.

"They want me to bring my copy of Mean Girls." Raj smiled. He began dancing again and singing " _Girl's Night Girl's Night."_ Stuart and Leonard laughed whilst Sheldon just shook his head in disappointment.

#

Bernadette and Howard were driving home from dinner with the in-laws.

"Did Stuart say anything about moving out?" Howard asked.

"Not yet." Bernadette told him "I'm sure he will be though. Amy's a neuroscientist so she knows how to manipulate the mind."

"Yeah but she also is naive and may have completely misjudged the situation." Howard said.

"Explain." Bernadette was confused.

"She sometimes takes things a bit too far." Howard explained "I wouldn't be surprised if she made Stuart feel…uncomfortable….in a sexual way."

"I'm sure she'll use her best judgement." Bernadette said to Howard.

#

The next morning Howard and Bernadette woke up and were getting ready for work. Howard was packing the bag he was taking and Bernadette was making sure she had all the notes for her presentation that day. They saw Stuart walk slowly from his bedroom into the kitchen as they were preparing their lunches. The two looked at each other in disappointment. Bernadette than assumed Amy's plan was still on-going.

"Oh you're still here." Howard said reactively.

"Of course I am." Stuart laughed "I live here!"

Bernadette rolled her eyes and went to the fridge. She was going to grab a yoghurt to eat before going to work but saw that there was none left.

"Where are my yoghurts?" she asked.

"I ate them." Stuart looked nervous. Bernadette rolled her eyes.

"For my diet I need to eat a yoghurt each morning!" Bernadette looked angry "And remember I work with dangerous diseases so you'd better buy me some new ones or else!" Stuart gulped and nodded his head. Bernadette grabbed her briefcase and stomped out of the house. Howard smiled awkwardly and followed.

#

After work that day Amy decided to quickly do some much needed shopping. She looked at her shopping list and crossed out each item as she went. She had gotten new pens, a loaf of bread, batteries and was now heading down to the dairy section to get some milk before she left. She grabbed a carton and she turned to exit the aisle when she saw Stuart standing in front of where the yoghurts were. He had a befuddled expression on his face and wasn't moving.

Amy had evaluated her attempt to get Stuart to move and from the lack of text she'd decided her plan failed. She smiled as she had an opportunity to try again.

"Hello Stuart." She interrupted his thoughts. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard this.

"Oh hi Amy!" Stuart said nervously.

"You look confused." Amy noted "Do you need help with something?"

Stuart studied Amy carefully. Was she seducing him or just being nice? "Well Bernadette wants me to buy more yoghurts but I can't remember which type it was."

"Bernadette likes that type." Amy pointed towards a yoghurt packet. Stuart picked it up and kept glancing nervously towards Amy.

"I'm sorry about the other day." Amy apologised "I was pretty insensitive to do that when Sheldon is still around." Stuart nodded anxiously like he understood.

"I forgive you." Stuart said although he was still felt a little uncomfortable by what happened.

"I just thought of how impressed everyone would be if you found your own place." Amy thought aloud subtly hinting towards Stuart.

"What?" Stuart looked confused.

"Well I think it is quite mature to move out of someone's house like that and give a couple their space." Amy shrugged to seem like she didn't care "But what do I know I am just a brain scientist with a PHD from Harvard." She said the last bit so Stuart would think Amy had credentials in this area. Amy saw the expression on Stuart's face go from justifiable fear to deep thought. Amy knew what she said was sinking in so she pretended to look at the time on her phone.

"I've got to go now." She said "See you around Stewie." She cursed internally for saying Stewie. She walked away and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Stuart was watching her speechlessly.

#

Sheldon and Leonard were walking up the stairs to their apartment.

"Here is another interesting fact." Sheldon recalled. Leonard sighed as he said this. "A group of Cockroaches is called an intrusion." He smiled as if it were the most exciting thing in the world.

"Isn't that also what a group of Sheldons is called?" Leonard joked. He had arrived at the apartment door and began unlocking it.

"Joke all you want but I have thought about if I got cloned and needed a collective noun." Sheldon added "After careful consideration I decided to go with brainstorm."

"A brainstorm of Sheldons" Leonard thought aloud "Sounds like a nightmare."

The two of them heard someone walking up the stairs and they turned around to see Penny.

"Hi Penny!" Sheldon smiled happily "You'll be happy to know I have been reflecting on what you said, even after the awkwardness, and have been practicing to be a better boyfriend. I am hoping that Amy will appreciate it, assuming she is not dating Stuart."

"Hi Sheldon." She smiled at him but she was a little shocked at all the talk all at once "Hello Leonard." Leonard was slightly peeved she acknowledged him second. "I'm sorry for the awkwardness too. If you want you can practice with me some more at some time."

"That sounds great Penny!" Sheldon said "It would be better than practicing with life-size cardboard Spock."

"Wait, wait, wait." Leonard interrupted the conversation "You two intend to hang out with each other more?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Sheldon asked unknowingly.

"No, no." Leonard lied. He remembered what Sheldon said about Penny saying 'I love you'. The two said goodbye to Penny and entered their apartment. Leonard stood silently thinking some things over. He even thought of Howard and Bernadette the other day. Even in their drug-addled state they seemed focused on each other only. Would getting married be the right idea if Penny had such a short attention span? Or would Penny's attention change if they got married and they became drug-addled as well. Was he overthinking this?

"Probably." He said to himself.

 **Wow another chapter! Thank you all for favouriting, following and reviewing as it makes me happy to receive some sort of feedback. Thankyou some reviewers who noted that the Amy scene in the last chapter wasn't very good and I thought about it and concurred. I decided it was best for Amy to try again in this chapter so I wrote another Amy-Stuart scene. Thankyou** bamadude, Stardustvixen, aliceindeepdarkwonderland, kimbee73, shamylover **and** firekeeper75 **for reviewing. Just one note I am back in college after holidays so I will be updating less frequently from now on. Love you all :D :D**


	5. Chapter 5

"Thank you for joining us at girl's night Raj." Amy said politely. "And I am not just saying that because you brought the wine."

"You're welcome Amy." Raj smiled. He always enjoyed coming to girl's night and he always got excited. "I always feel accepted here. Anyways I bought my copy of Mean Girls." He got the DVD case from his man purse.

The three girls glanced at each other in preparation of what to say. Without Raj's knowledge they all arrived half an hour early to discuss their agreement.

" _Sheldon was surprisingly enthusiastic about meeting with me again." Penny told them and Amy couldn't help feel impressed. "We have another session together tomorrow afternoon."_

" _I talked to Stuart at the grocery store." Amy explained. "I don't know if my plan worked but I definitely put the idea in his head."_

 _Bernadette looked at the two of them and felt disappointed in herself. "I don't think I managed to help Leonard. I think we ended up making it worse."_

" _Leonard was acting weird the other day." Penny admitted "I'd unfortunately have to agree."_

" _I'll try something else I swear." Bernadette tried to smile._

" _Don't worry Bernadette we trust you." Amy said "But we now need to talk about Raj."_

" _We need to convince him to break up with Emily and give us our feminine wisdom." Penny said._

" _We need to make sure he doesn't hurt her feelings." Bernadette suggested "And we also need to find a way for Raj to not chicken out."_

" _I-I think I have an idea." Amy gave a cheeky smile. Penny and Bernadette listened intently as she explained._

"So Raj before we begin the movie…" Amy began to say but Raj's phone beeped and he got it out of his pocket. He sighed.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Emily has texted me and said she will pick me up at 7:30 for the screening of Entanglement of A Thousand Corpses." Raj looked disappointed.

"Raj you've got to shake her off." Penny said "Just like Taylor Swift would."

"I'm afraid that this is the only chance I'll get at finding someone." Raj admitted "No one ever said your romantic partner had to be perfect."

"You obviously aren't happy Raj." Bernadette said "If you want we could help you."

"You would do that for me?" Raj asked.

"Of course we are your friends." Amy said and she comforted Raj by patting his shoulder.

"How exactly would you do that?" Raj questioned.

"We could tell you what to say." Amy said "By texting you during your date tomorrow with suggestions. I've done it before and it works if autocorrect doesn't ruin everything." She glanced at Bernadette and remembered the double date between Bernadette, Howard, Leonard and Priya.

"I think that we could try that." Raj said "Yeah let's do that!"

"Yay!" Penny said and she drank some wine "Now let's get drunk and watch Mean Girls!"

Raj smiled and put the DVD in the machine. "Mean Girls! Mean Girls!" he sang happily.

#

Knock Knock Knock Penny

"1" Penny Counted

Knock Knock Knock Penny

"2" Penny Counted

Knock Knock Knock Penny

"3" Penny Counted and she opened the door to see a Sheldon. He gave a big smile which creeped her out a little.

"Hello Penny I hope you find the day well." He said.

"Thanks Sheldon…" she felt uncomfortable with the sudden upbeat greeting from him.

"I just wanted to tell to you how beautiful you look today." He complimented "That dress really compliments your eye colour."

"What?" Penny was confused. Sheldon walked closer to Penny and put his arm cautiously around her.

"Also I noticed the recent article you posted in Neuron magazine. Your best work yet."

"Oh…" Penny realised "You are showing me what you have been practicing."

"Of course Penny." Sheldon went back into his usual character "Do you really think I'd know whether your eyes compliment your dress."

"Oh sweetie everything does." She smiled boastfully.

"Anyway what did you think?" Sheldon said and he gave a smile "Was I even more charming than usual?"

"I have to admit you had me for a second." Penny said "I am sure Amy will be impressed. But I do have a criticism…"

"What? I thought it was perfect." Sheldon said to himself.

"Amy is smarter than I am." Penny said "You can't be overly lovey dovey or she'll know it is an act."

"So you want me to dial it down?" Sheldon asked.

"I think so."

"Can I show you something and see what you think?"

"Sure."

Sheldon looked at Penny and began to say something. "How are you today?"

"I am fine…" Penny wondered what he was doing.

"Good for you because all I feel is confusion." Sheldon began to look sad. "My mind tells me one thing and I need to be the other. I see one emotion and it turns out to be another. I feel an emotion and it should be another. I really want you back I my life but I just don't know how. I've been practicing and trying really hard to find nice things to say to you but they never are just right. Nothing will ever be 'right' enough to express how much I love you Amy. So whether or not you decide to take me back after this break I just want to say that the influence you have had on me is astounding. I will always remember you and not just because of my eidetic memory."

Sheldon stopped talking and saw tears flowing down Penny's cheek.

"It wasn't that bad!" Sheldon said "That came straight from the heart not some Wikihow article on relationships."

"No I am not crying because it was bad." She said between tears "I am crying because made me feel emotional. That was perfect."

"Thank you Penny."

"Sheldon." Penny said "I think it will work even better on Amy."

"Then you should convince Amy I am ready to love her again." Sheldon begged "Please!"

She remembered the agreement with her friends Bernadette and Amy and remembered that Sheldon was also her friend, and for even longer than them. "Of course Sheldon. I promise."

#

Leonard wondered why he even bothered to do this. He knew he wanted to get away from wondering what Penny and Sheldon were doing by themselves as he'd heard some stuff Sheldon was saying to his Life-Size cardboard Spock and he was startled. But he didn't think that after how uncomfortable he felt the last time he was alone with them that he would agree to go shopping with Howard and Bernadette.

"So Howard." Bernadette said "Would you like chicken flavour or just plain?"

"Chicken please honey." Howard answered. Leonard wondered why he was even invited. He wasn't contributing to anything.

"I think we should go to the sweets section." Howard suggested "I really want to get some jellybeans."

"No jellybeans Howard." Bernadette looked sternly at him "I don't need you being sick again." Bernadette walked ahead of them with the shopping basket and Howard and Leonard walked behind.

"So why am I even here Howard?" Leonard asked. "Do you always bring a friend shopping?"

"We just wanted to show you how rewarding being married was." Howard said.

"Why?" Leonard asked.

Howard decided to lie and not mention the agreement. "We just felt sorry for you and Penny after Las Vegas."

"I don't understand how shopping would help with that." Leonard said.

"We wanted to show you how happy we were together doing something as menial as shopping for groceries." Howard said. "I don't know what Penny did for you to prolong the marriage but I assure you, if you love her you'll be as happy grocery shopping with Penny as you ever were."

"It isn't Penny." Leonard admitted "I kissed a girl on the boat to the Arctic and I am worried I will screw up again and make Penny depressed or something."

"Oh come on!" Bernadette interrupted the two of them. "Penny is stronger than you think. It would take her little homunculus doing something very disastrous to depress her. Unless you are a bully like Kurt she'll be fine."

"Are you sure Bernadette?" Leonard said.

"Positive." Bernadette reassured.

This did make Leonard think. He had been worrying about him so much he'd hardly thought about how Penny was feeling about all this. He needed to toughen up and not assume that the worst was going to happen. He'd seen what marriage had done to her parents and that probably made him subconsciously think the same would happen.

"Thanks Bernadette and Howard." Leonard said genuinely "Today really helped." Bernadette and Howard smiled at each other.

 **So sorry for the VERY long wait but here is another chapter. Please keep reviewing as I love hearing your feedback. Thankyou** bamadude, Stardustvixen, aliceindeepdarkwonderland, SRAM, , shamylover **and a guest for reviewing. I hope that I can post another chapter quicker this time but I never know what my college work schedule will be like. Love you all and thanks again :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Raj breathed in deeply as he rode in Emily's car to the movie theatre. He looked over to Emily who was driving with a huge smile on her face. He looked down at his phone and began to text in a group chat.

 _I don't think I can do this – Raj_

 _Raj if you don't do this I will come over there and do it myself! – Bernadette_

 _No need to get angry Bernadette. Just stay calm Raj and say it – Amy_

 _Easy for you to say – Raj_

 _You need to at least do it before you spend the entire night with her! That would suck for Emily – Penny_

 _You should have done it when she came to your house – Amy_

 _I'm sorry I was mid-panic attack like I am now. Oh no Emily just saw me texting – Raj_

"Who are you texting?" Emily asked.

"Just my dad." Raj lied "He has felt a bit lonely since the divorce."

"Don't let it distract you too much." Emily said "I have a great night planned."

"Oh yeah Entanglement of a Thousand Corpses." Raj said with sarcasm. "How fun."

Emily for some reason giggled at that comment which made Raj a little scared. Emily frightened him and he didn't want to fear his romantic partner for his whole life.

 _Just do it Raj. I'll even tell you what to say. Tell her how pretty and nice she is but just say you think someone else would be better suited for her than you. – Penny._

Raj rolled her eyes at that text and then wondered if that would actually work.

 _She might stab me or mutilate me – Raj_

 _She won't do that. I know Emily a little and she would only do that to Penny – Amy_

 _Yeah that is true. – Bernadette_

 _Hey! Not nice guys! She likes me now. – Penny._

 _No she is only pretending to. I know that look she gives you from the look you used to give me – Amy._

Raj put the phone down and ignored any more arguing between the girls.

"Emily there is something we need to talk about." Raj said.

"What is it Raj?" Emily said as she turned a corner to go right.

"Well…." Raj stopped talking to find the words but then he noticed that they turned the wrong way as they were meant to turn left. "Why did we just turn right?"

"It's a surprise." Emily smiled again.

"This better not be a trick!" Raj started to panic "Are you going to kill me because I want to break up with you?"

"You want to break up with me?" Emily's smile faded and she stopped a car in a random parking space.

"Well..um." Raj began to look nervous. He saw how hurt Emily looked at this comment. "I was just talking about the other night in the graveyard when you thought I was breaking up with you."

"Oh." Emily smiled again and breathed a sigh of relief "You had me worried. Anyways we are here at the theatre now."

"No we aren't." Raj looked confused. Emily got out the car and Raj cautiously did the same. He recognised the building in front of them and knew he'd been there before.

"Why are we here?" Raj asked "They don't have any screenings of Entanglement of A Thousand Corpses here."

"But they do have screenings of Sound of Music which I know you love!" Emily smiled and Raj realised why she had been doing that the whole car drive "Surprise!"

"You want to see that with me?" Raj asked.

"I realised that we often watch the movies I like so I decided it was time we did it with one of your favourites." Emily looked really happy "And I had you totally fooled."

"Are you really doing that for me?" Raj was touched.

"I'd do anything." Emily said "I love you."

"You love me?" Raj said "You've never said that. No girl has…"

"Well I do."

Raj held Emily's hand and walked into the theatre. He also grabbed his phone and texted the girls with the other hand quickly. The phone had been buzzing out of control since he ignored it.

 _I don't want to break up with her any more. Sorry for wasting your time – Raj_

 _Raj you can't chicken out! – Penny._

 _Willow – Bernadette_

 _I am not chickening out. We just love each other – Raj._

Raj turned off his phone and put it in his pocket. He then bought tickets and walked into the theatre. Emily felt really happy with herself and Raj knew he couldn't disappoint her now.

#

"Raj is such an idiot!" Bernadette felt like throwing the phone at someone. She was in her house with Howard who was watching some stupid sci-fi TV show.

"I know Bernie!" Howard said detached from the conversation "What are we talking about again?"

"Raj failed to break up with Emily again!" Bernadette rolled her eyes.

"What did you expect?" Howard asked sarcastically "The only way they'd break up is if she did it."

"What did you just say?" Bernadette questioned.

"Obviously Raj doesn't have the balls to do it." Howard said "So maybe if we could get Emily to do it somehow…"

"That is a great idea!" Bernadette said "I have to text Amy and Penny right now!" She began to rigorously type into the phone.

 _Are you sure doing that is ethical? – Penny_

 _Ethical isn't in her vocabulary Penny – Amy_

 _From the girl who likes 'giving animals cancer' – Bernadette_

 _Fine we can suggest that to Raj the next time we meet. I can't believe he failed. – Penny_

Bernadette read Penny's text but before she could think of a reply Stuart walked into the room. Usually on a Saturday night he would stroll around in his underwear and eat straight from the ice cream tub but on this night he was fully dressed and was typing on an old generation IPad.

"What are you doing Stuart?" Bernadette asked.

"None of your business." Stuart said "It is actually kind of a surprise."

"I don't like surprises." Howard said without glancing from the TV "Especially after all those surprise nude nights you've been having."

"I've never gone nude I've always worn at least underwear." Stuart rebutted "But anyway it is a secret so you'll just have to wait." Stuart quickly walked away and towards his room.

"What do you think the surprise is?" Bernadette asked Howard. For the first time Howard took his eyes of the TV screen and looked at his wife.

"I don't know." Howard said "I know he does online dating. Maybe he got a girlfriend."

"Or." Bernadette thought out loud "He could have found another place to stay. Amy told me she planted an idea in his head."

"I certainly hope so." Howard said and he turned back to the TV.

#

Raj and Emily walked out of the movie theatre with happy expressions on their faces.

"I have to admit that was better than I thought it would be" Emily said.

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Yeah." Emily said "I'd never watch The Sound of Music by myself so I would have never gotten to watch it without you. Thanks."

Raj began to blush. "No problem."

Raj and Emily turned to walk out of the theatre where they nearly bumped straight into two people.

"Emily! Raj!" It was Penny who was walking into the theatre with Amy "I wasn't expecting to see you here since your movie was at the other theatre."

"So why are you here then?" Emily asked. Raj knew Penny and Amy were there to spy on them.

"We LOVE musicals." Amy exaggerated.

"How come you never want to see any with me then?" Raj asked rhetorically. Both Penny and Amy glanced at each other awkwardly.

"Well…um…" They both stuttered. Emily looked at them with confusion.

"I think we need to go home." Emily said "Nice running into you." Raj could tell she lied when she said that. She pulled Raj away and left Penny and Amy there.

"That was interesting." Emily said.

"Can I admit something?" Raj asked.

"You can tell me anything." Emily said "Are you a werewolf? It is nearly midnight."

"This is serious Emily." Raj said "I was telling the truth when I said I wanted to break up with you."

Emily looked stunned. She began stuttering something but couldn't say anything.

"But Emily tonight was perfect." Raj said. "We watched something and both enjoyed it for once and we connected on a level we'd never had before." Raj said.

"So you're not breaking up with me?" Emily asked hopefully.

"No." Raj said "Please forgive me for almost ruining everything."

"I forgive you Raj." Emily said "And I am not just saying that because you are the best boyfriend I've ever had."

Raj and Emily both leaned in and kissed each other. It was the best kiss that Raj had ever had as he felt some emotion that he'd never felt before. Was it love? He couldn't tell.

"What the heck are they doing?" Amy asked Penny as they were watching them from within the theatre.

"I can't believe he is kissing her." Penny said "He probably isn't even enjoying it. We need to stop this!"

"Are you sure Penny?" Amy asked.

"Yep." Penny said. "Time to put Bernadette's plan into action."

Raj and Emily stopped kissing and turned to see Amy and Penny walking towards them. Raj saw Emily roll her eyes.

"Raj you are making so many mistakes." Penny said to them "You need to kiss her a lot better than that!"

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked. "Like you'd know much about that."

Penny glared at Emily for a second which made her really want to end things. "We all know Raj is unhappy with this relationship." Penny retaliated "That is why he got us to text you advice mid-date. I was continuing that now"

Emily turned to Raj in shock and anger. "Is this true? I thought that was your father who needed someone to talk to."

"It is not what you think!" Raj begged her to listen.

"I'm done for tonight." Emily said "Find your own way home." She turned away and got into her car. Raj looked sad as she drove away.

"Do you want a lift home?" Penny asked as if nothing had happened.

"I can't believe you two. I know I asked you for advice but this crossed a line!" Raj shouted "I'll find another way home thank you!"

Raj stormed off angrily and Amy and Penny looked at each other.

"Maybe what we did just then was wrong." Amy said.

"No Amy it wasn't." Penny said "Raj may be mad at us now but he'll be thanking us in the future when he finds someone who actually cares about him."

"I hope you are right Penny." Amy said "Or our friendship with Raj might be over."

Penny could just hear Sheldon in her head saying that the study was true and Raj just lost friends because of a relationship. That reminded her of the agreement she made with him about getting Amy to meet with him again. But she decided tonight wasn't the right night to do it. She saw Amy was panicked enough.

 **This was quite an intense chapter for Raj and Emily and I have to say it was a blast to write. Such a blast that this is the longest a chapter has ever been. Next chapter will be what happens with Raj and Emily as well as continuations of the Leonard and Sheldon storylines. I'll see if I can fit Stuart in there but as I found out writing today suddenly you are at a lot of words and I need to finish a chapter. I hope you don't end up hating Amy and Penny for what they did at the end because that is not my intention, they just were overly concerned for Raj.**

 **As usual thanks everyone who has reviewed so far. Thankyou** bamadude, kimbee73, SRAM, Theshamyshamy, nibbler747 **and** shamylover **for reviewing. I began private messaging those who have accounts. Someone did that to me when I reviewed something so I thought it was a good idea if I did the same. I don't know if it is common courtesy on here or not though. Thank you once again for reading. :D**

 **ClintEye.**

 **P.S I have just realised in my previous documents that what I used to split scenes in my word document didn't translate to on here so I really don't understand how you managed to read it so I edited them all and instead put a hashtag to indicate a new scene as seen in this chapter. Sorry if that was a bit confusing.**


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning after the date ended badly for Raj he called Emily several times but she did not pick up the phone.

"I can't believe what Penny did." Raj shook his head in dismay. He was out at brunch with Howard. The two were still best friends and they made sure that having a relationship didn't stop them from doing things together.

"You need to stop calling Emily, Raj!" Howard warned "If she needs space you are not helping by smothering her."

"I will not stop calling Emily!" Raj persisted "We are in love and I won't let what Penny did get in our way!" Howard felt like rolling his eyes but kept it together for his friend. Raj picked up his phone and dialled again. Howard watched as his friend tapped his fingers on the table, waiting anxiously to see if she'd pick up. He was surprised to see Raj's expression become happy and that meant Emily had answered the phone.

"Emily!" Raj exclaimed "I am so happy you picked up!"

"What do you want Raj?" Emily sounded very reluctant to talk. Howard listened carefully to make sure he heard everything.

"I'm very sorry for how I got advice from Penny and Amy last night." Raj apologised. "Everything was going so well before you found out about that ."

"I felt betrayed Raj" Emily said "You told me you wanted to break up with me and then I find out you are getting advice from that..."

"I don't…" Raj started to say but he was interrupted.

"I thought I wanted to keep you and I made a sincere effort last night." Emily sounded sad now "But I have realised how much of a handful you are. You are a great guy but you are no longer a great boyfriend. I'm sorry but I think we should got break up."

Raj began stuttering into the phone but Emily hung up and left him speechless. Howard had heard what happened and said reassuringly "Are you ok Raj?"

"I would be if it weren't for Penny." Raj said angrily.

"Shouldn't you be angry at Emily not Penny?" Howard tried to maintain the friendship between the two. "And isn't this what you wanted?"

"No!" Raj slammed his fist on the table and almost knocked over a salt shaker. "Thanks to her I am going to die alone!" He picked up his phone and began to angrily dial Penny.

#

At a different restaurant Penny, Amy and Bernadette were also out at brunch. They agreed they needed to discuss what had happened the night before and with any other progress they'd made.

"Stuart said he had a surprise last night." Bernadette explained to them "I don't know what it is but I hope it means he is moving out."

"I knew my feminine charm would work." Amy smiled boastfully.

"Amy I need to ask you about Sheldon." Penny was nervous at requesting that they should meet again. She knew there was a chance Amy wouldn't want to yet and that she would get angry at her. She took a deep breath and continued "Do you think you are ready to talk to him?"

"I don't know yet. My heart does want to. My head doesn't." Amy said sincerely. "You've been working with him and I trust your opinion. What do you think?"

"He made me cry from something he wanted to say to you…"

"Was it that bad?" Amy asked curiously.

"Seriously that is what he thought!" Penny almost laughed at the similar response. "No it just was very emotional. I think you should at least meet again."

"I don't want to just commit myself already though." Amy told her. This made Penny think of the marriage proposal Sheldon wanted to do over Skype.

"You don't have to end the break Amy." Bernadette added "Just meet with him and decide if you want to continue."

Amy smiled at the support. "Thanks I don't know what I'd do…." Mid-sentence Penny's phone began to play Bollywood dance music.

"Damn it is Raj." Penny looked worried "I haven't talked to him since yesterday. I kinda have been feeling nervous about how are friendship would be now."

"Do you regret what you did?" Amy asked.

"No. I know Raj will be better without that stress." Penny looked down at her phone and sighed. "Might as well get it over with." She answered the phone and put it on speaker so the girls could hear.

"PENNY I AM SO MAD AT YOU!" Raj shouted from the other end. The three girls were shocked.

Penny was tongue tied but Bernadette spoke up. "I'm sure it'll be alright Raj."

"NO EMILY JUST BROKE UP WITH ME!" they heard crying between words.

"I'm sorry Raj but I do think that it will be for the better." Penny said.

"PENNY I WILL DIE ALONE AND IT'LL BE ALL YOU FAULT!" Raj continued to cry.

"Could you keep it down." They heard Howard say.

But Raj had just hung up in frustration and left the girls sitting in awkward silence.

"Well…" Bernadette spoke up "I think we should go talk to him."

"After brunch we can go to his apartment and cheer him up!" Amy suggested.

"Bernadette and I can do that." Penny said "You need to contact Sheldon."

"Ok." Amy said in agreement. She thought of how anxious the prospect of texting or calling Sheldon was. She hadn't contacted him since she started the break and she didn't know if he'd act immaturely or not. She hoped he wouldn't but she could never tell with him.

#

Leonard and Sheldon had not heard of the events of the night before. Sheldon had been following his regular schedule all morning and Leonard had been on his laptop. At 12 o'clock exactly Sheldon sat on the couch and began watching The Flash. Watching the show reminded him of Amy. He then noticed out of the corner of his eye that Leonard had begun pacing around the living room.

"Leonard I just did a quick Google search. Are you either excited, worried or high on Redbull?" Sheldon asked

Leonard looked at Sheldon with derision when he said the last option. "I'm a mix of the first two."

"Is it appropriate to ask why?" Sheldon queried.

"When do you care about when something is appropriate?" Leonard asked back and Sheldon nodded understandably.

"Good point." Sheldon said "So then why are you excited and worried?"

"I'm continuing to plan my wedding with Penny." Leonard told him "I want to surprise her with it."

"And you thought telling me was a good idea?" Sheldon looked confused "You know I can't keep a secret."

"As my friend you have a social obligation to do so." Leonard told him. "But I'm pacing around because I am trying to figure it all out. I'm excited to be planning but I am worried Penny won't like it. What if I screw this wedding up like when I kissed the girl on the expedition?"

"I'm not exactly an expert on this as you probably know." Sheldon said "But I personally think you and Penny could have got married in that cheap Vegas chapel and she'd still be happy."

"So you're saying it doesn't matter as long as we're together?" Leonard thought aloud.

"No I was saying Penny is tacky and probably wouldn't notice." Sheldon explained himself "But sure the hippy-dippy thing you just said."

Leonard rolled his eyes and sat down at his laptop again. Sheldon felt confused so he went back to watching The Flash. His phone suddenly made a noise and a Neil Diamond song played.

"It's Amy!" Sheldon looked stunned and almost flung his phone across the room like it was a hot plate. "What should I do Leonard?"

"Answer it Sheldon!" Leonard said like it was obvious.

Sheldon panicked as he answered the call and his hands trembled as he put the phone up to his ear.

"Yo how is it hanging?" he said. He wanted to make it seem like he wasn't just freaking out.

"Um…." He heard Amy who sounded confused "Is this Sheldon?"

"Who else would it be?" Sheldon asked rhetorically.

"Well this call is a formality." Amy told him "I am just letting you know that I wish to meet up with you again to re-evaluate the relationship."

"Really?" Sheldon said like an excited child.

"I know you have a fixed schedule so I'd like to find a time that can fit in with that." Amy explained.

"I'm free tonight!" Sheldon didn't even think about his schedule at that moment "Are you free?"

"Yeah I am." Amy said "I'll meet you at the Cheesecake Factory at 7:30."

"Ok." Sheldon smiled really wide and it reminded Leonard of The Joker. Amy said goodbye and hung-up.

"So you and Amy are back together?" Leonard asked.

"It seems that way!" Sheldon began to do his 'Sheldon and his brain' dance around the living until both he and Leonard heard something smash from outside their apartment. Leonard stood and looked out the door where he saw a girl who had just dropped a box on the ground and was picking up the contents.

"Alicia!" Leonard began to help her put her things back in the box. "Are you moving out?" The two had hardly spoken since she and Penny got in that fight many years ago.

"Yeah my acting career failed miserably so I'm moving back home." Alicia explained "Turns out you can't just sleep your way to the top."

Sheldon and Leonard looked at each other awkwardly.

"If you want you can help me get back on my feet." Alicia winked at Leonard and moved closer to him. Leonard felt really uncomfortable and almost began to hyperventilate.

"I'm sorry." Leonard said as he moved backwards "Penny and I are engaged now."

"You and the blonde slut." Alicia said with a devilish grin "You only dated her because she put out right?"

"Don't you dare speak that way about her again!" Leonard began to get angry.

"Or you'll kill me with a light saber?" Alicia said with a laugh. She picked up the box when she'd put everything back in and saw Sheldon staring at her from within the apartment "I'd better hurry and get this done before a prospective apartment renter comes to check the place out." She then walked down the stairs like she'd just threw a grenade.

"Oh no this is a disaster!" Sheldon panicked "I was just getting used to her and now someone else is going to move in!"

"Relax Sheldon." Leonard reassured "You need to think about your date with Amy."

"You are right." Sheldon said and tried to get his mind to focus "And just on a related note you have to drive me to the Cheesecake factory later."

Leonard rolled his eyes. Of course he'd just assume he had nothing planned.

 **And I'll end it there. This chapter pretty much features every plot-line and I hope I managed to entangle them all together nicely. Next chapter will be just a continuation of this chapter. I am not sure what plot-lines I will include but I hope I'll make the right decision.**

 **In relation to the events of Season 9, this story is a completely different entity like a parallel universe of different events. I was really impressed with the first episode and thought it was funny (I loved the conversation between Penny and Sheldon with the hot beverages) but this story is something different. I might borrow events if I feel they fit but I have no plans to at this point.**

 **Thanks again for reading. If you liked this chapter please do the usual – follow, favourite and review- as I really appreciate any feedback. Thanks** bamadude, shamylover, SRAM **and** nibbler747 **for reviewing as I loved hearing your opinions. Also thankyou everyone who even viewed this story as seeing people do so makes my life a little happier as I try to get through college.**

 **Thank you again. :D**

 **ClintEye**


	8. Chapter 8

Just after midday Penny and Bernadette had arrived outside Raj's apartment. Penny took in a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Raj asked.

"It is just me and Bernadette." Penny responded.

"Go away Penny!" He shouted through the door.

"Raj we just wanted to apologise." Bernadette said calmly.

Suddenly there was a silence and Penny gave Bernadette a confused look. They then heard a latch being unlocked and Raj opened the door. When Penny saw him she noted that he was still wearing the same clothes as the night before and that he had bags under his eyes.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Raj gave a confused look.

"It was my idea to get Emily to break up with you instead of you breaking up with her." She explained to him.

"I can't believe you two. " Raj looked disappointed "Because of you I have no girlfriend."

"If I knew you'd be angry I wouldn't have done it." Penny comforted "But I thought you'd want to break up with her."

"I did but then she made such an effort with the Sound of Music date..." Raj said but was interrupted by Penny.

"She was just using that to stop you breaking up with her." Penny said "She would have walked away like then eventually."

Raj saw the concern in Penny's face. He could tell that she felt sorry for what she did but also that she didn't regret it. She just wanted him to be happy. But then again she may have just stopped him from ever getting married with his future soul mate.

"But now I am just worried that Emily was my last chance." He said "Who else would want to date a loser like me?"

"Raj you are a great guy." Bernadette said "I am sure that there are many great girls who would want to date you who aren't Emily."

"Well than prove that it is true!" Raj demanded. "If you find me a compatible girl who you and I both approve of and get her to be my girlfriend than I will stop being angry at you."

"Raj that might not be…" Bernadette began to say.

"Well I see you were lying than." Raj then started to slam the door in their faces.

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" Penny stopped him "I think we could do that. But we'd have to tell Amy first and she'll be busy organising meeting Sheldon again."

"Yes we'll do that for you Raj." Bernadette agreed although internally she knew it would be difficult and gave Penny a concerned look.

"Their break is over?" Raj got distracted by what Penny had said "I hope it goes well for them now."

"It isn't over she is just testing the waters again." Bernadette explained "But yeah we hope it goes well."

#

"I hope tonight goes well." Sheldon said nervously as he tapped his fingers on the car seat. He was being driven by Leonard to the Cheesecake Factory for his date with Amy. His outfit was a fine mix of classy and casual as he wanted to impress her.

"Sheldon everything will go fine." Leonard reassured.

"And how do you know that?" Sheldon questioned condescendingly "You can't be from the future. And I don't believe in psychics unless they're Pokémon."

"Okay so I don't know for sure but you and Amy are just meant to be." Leonard said.

"Like you and Penny?" Sheldon asked.

"Exactly." Leonard said "And look how that turned out. Tonight after I drop you off at your date I will pick up Penny, take her to a great restaurant and excite her with all the wedding plans I've been making. And even some sex after all that is done."

"I understand what you are saying." Sheldon nodded his head "Except why you'd sex after such a great night but that isn't my concern." Leonard rolled his eyes as he drove into the Cheesecake Factory carpark and found a spot.

"Good luck buddy." Leonard said to Sheldon as he got out of the car "Don't hesitate to text me if you need any advice." Sheldon almost laughed at such a suggestion. He said goodbye and walked towards the Cheesecake Factory entrance.

"Like I'd take advice from someone who drives over the speed limit whilst I am in the car." He said to himself as he opened the door. A waitress came up to him which made him slightly nervous that she would try and shake his hand or breathe on him

"Do you have a reservation today sir?" she asked him with a huge smile. He recognised that look from Penny's waitress days and knew she just did it for tips.

"I am here to meet a woman named Amy Farrah-Fowler." Sheldon explained almost with a stutter.

"She is at table 7." She pointed towards the table.

"Thankyou." Sheldon said. He saw Amy's facing away from him with her long brown hair brushed neatly down her back and he noticed that her black dress fit her perfectly. Seeing her again made his heart skip a beat and reminded him of why he broke his relationship personal rules and dated her. Sheldon took a deep breath and walked towards the table but was so nervous that he started to shake and his palms began to sweat. Just as he was about to see Amy's face again a waitress with a tray full of plates turned away from a table and straight into him. Both he and the waitress stumbled to the floor and plates smashed everywhere. The night was not going well so far.

#

"This place looks great!" Penny was in awe at where Leonard took her. It was a fancy Italian restaurant where everything on the menu had a name which she couldn't pronounce without her fiancé's help. A waiter had just taken their order so the two had time to talk before their food came.

"Did you hear what happened with Raj?" Penny asked Leonard.

"Yeah he texted me how you were an awful human being." Leonard said "Selective mutism and then delusions. Poor guy." Penny giggled at the joke.

"Oh!" Leonard just remembered "Did you hear about the Shamy date?"

"Of course I was the one who told Amy that Sheldon was ready for it." Penny said.

"Sheldon was really nervous about it." Leonard said "I hope it all goes well for him." Penny nodded and there was moment of quiet.

"Penny." Leonard broke the silence.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I think I may have been a let-down over the past few weeks." Leonard began to talk.

"Leonard no you haven't." Penny reassured.

"And I know you have been wanting to get the marriage talk back into our relationship since Vegas but I was really scared I'd screw everything up again." Leonard said "But I went shopping with Howard and Bernadette and they made me realise that you are a strong person and could handle any shots I accidentally fire."

Penny smiled a little. This meant that Howard and Bernadette had been doing their part in the girl's plan.

"So at this special setting I'd like to say I'd like to get our wedding planning started again and a proper wedding too." Leonard said "And I think you might like what I've already planned."

"Really?" Penny said excitedly. "What have you planned? It'd better not be a Star Wars wedding!"

"I booked the Hilltop Wedding Chapel in Vegas!" Leonard said excitedly.

"What? That place is so beautiful and expensive!" Penny almost squealed "How did you…"

"Sheldon and I got a huge amount of money from someone who liked our paper." Leonard's smile almost looked like Sheldon's. "That money will pay for almost everything at our wedding…" Before Leonard could say anymore Penny kissed him straight on the lips.

"Here is your meal." The waiter looked at them uncomfortably and both of them quickly stopped kissing. He put their plates down and quickly left.

"When did you book it for?" Penny asked.

"In a month." Leonard said. "Only date in the recent future that was available."

"A month!" Penny looked shocked "I have so many things to plan and do and I have to pick my dress and tell my family to get my brother out of rehab!"

"Relax Penny." Leonard said "Let's just enjoy tonight."

Penny kissed Leonard again. Leonard thought that he was definitely going to have sex that night.

#

"So how was Raj?" Howard asked as he watched the television for a second night in a row "He seemed a little rustled up after your phone call at brunch."

"He was angry but after we apologised and explained that we didn't meant to hurt him for the thousandth time he understood." Bernadette lied.

"That is great." Howard said and he took a sip of Coke.

"Also we agreed to find him a girlfriend." Bernadette added.

Howard almost chocked on his drink. "Another thing we have to do! This will be tougher than helping Leonard want to get married again."

"I know Howie but we want Raj to be happy and if we find someone who can actually do that and is compatible for him than we've done our job as friends." Bernadette explained.

Howard began to try and think of anyone he knew who would be good for Raj when Stuart predictably walked into the room.

"Stuart." Bernadette said "Tomorrow I need you to go shopping for us since you ate our last loaf of bread making that 5 layer sandwich I found in the kitchen."

"That was me Bernie." Howard said awkwardly and got a glare from Bernadette.

"Anyways can you do that for me?" Bernadette asked. "And can you move out." Bernadette felt like saying, but didn't out of politeness.

"I guess I could do it after my appointment tomorrow." Stuart thought aloud.

"What illness do you have now?" Howard asked sarcastically.

"No, not that kind of appointment." Stuart clarified "And since it is related to the surprise I mentioned yesterday I will say no more." Stuart turned away and walked to his bedroom.

"Weird." Howard said. Bernadette nodded in agreement.

 **Thank you for once again reading and I understand if you are angry that there was such a long time since I last posted but I have been extremely busy with college. If this chapter doesn't seem as good as the others it might be because I wrote it on the train over a few days as that was the only time I had to write. If you liked please favourite, follow and review as it lets me know that you appreciate my story. Thankyou** **bamadude** **,** **SRAM** **,** **nibbler747** **and ShamyLover for reviewing since I last updated. Also BTW the Hilltop Wedding Chapel is made up so don't expect it to actually exist.**

 **Thank you once again.**

 **ClintEye**


	9. Chapter 9

Sheldon was walking towards Amy's table. Just as he was about to see Amy's face again a waitress with a tray full of plates turned away from another table and straight into him. Both he and the waitress stumbled to the floor and plates smashed everywhere.

"Sheldon!" Amy said shocked as she heard the noise and turned to see him.

"My shirt has a stain on it!" Sheldon grumbled "And the floor is dirty!"

"I am really sorry sir." The waitress apologised "I'll get something to clean up." She went to get some cleaning utensils.

"I need my Purell!" Sheldon began freaking out. "It is just in the…" he than just realised that he always kept it in the car and Leonard had already left for his date with Penny. Sheldon began breathing in deeply as he felt the germs and dirt crawling all over his body.

"Do you need to clean up Sheldon?" Amy looked directly at him when she said this. For the first time in forever Sheldon looked Amy straight in the face and saw how beautiful she looked for the date. He felt instantly ashamed that she had to see him the complete opposite.

"I can't do this." He turned away from her and rushed out of the Cheesecake Factory. He walked quickly away from there and began to criticise his actions in his mind. He thought that if he was so smart then how could he be so clumsy and stupid?

"Sheldon!" he heard Amy calling from behind him. She was following him out of the Cheesecake Factory.

"Don't follow me Amy!" He shouted back.

"Sheldon I don't care if you look a little messy for once." Amy shouted back. This made Sheldon stop walking which allowed Amy to catch up with me.

"Don't lie to me Amy." He said "I know that I was a big embarrassment in there." Sheldon instinctively began to shake and scratch his hands to get rid of the germs.

"Stop doing that." Amy directed "Your OCD is just acting out because you're stressed."

"Of course Ms. Neurobiologist would come to that conclusion." Sheldon said "I am just trying not to die of a skin infection or malaria."

"If you want I can take you home so you can change your clothes and clean yourself." Amy said as she saw how stressed out he looked.

"Are you sure that isn't too awkward especially since…"

"Just follow me to the car Sheldon." Amy interrupted frantically. Sheldon sighed and they walked together in an awkward silence.

#

The awkward silence continued in the car to Sheldon's apartment. Sheldon didn't know what to say that was appropriate and Amy was too pre-occupied by what Sheldon just did to think to think of anything. Sheldon decided to risk it and say the first thing that was on his mind.

"The reason I didn't see the waitress was because I was staring at you." Sheldon said.

Amy was confused. "Why were you staring at me Sheldon?" she asked.

"I was just noticing how beautiful you looked in that dress." Sheldon recalled his exact thoughts "I understand if you want to throw me out of the car because that is really creepy."

Amy was shocked that Sheldon had said something so romantic. Had it been Penny's help? Or was it just him? Not since the fake prom when he said 'I love you' had he said something similar. Their relationship had been stalling since that point which she began to notice. After Sheldon mentioned the Flash whilst kissing she reached her breaking point and had to take a look at herself outside of the relationship. But now she saw why she stayed with Sheldon for so long. He wasn't always romantic because of his eccentricities but when he was it was well worth the wait.

"No Sheldon I don't want to throw you out the car." Amy said "That is actually really sweet."

"Are you sure?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah." Amy said back.

"Astounding." Sheldon said in astonishment.

Amy's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by 'astounding'?"

"I feel like staring at someone like that would be something a creepy person would do. Like the old Howard would." Sheldon explained.

"I find it romantic okay?" Amy said "Stop ruining the moment."

"I don't know how a moment can be ruined, it is just a combination of a physical quantity and a distance." Sheldon thought aloud. They'd just arrived in front of Sheldon's apartment building and Amy parked in front. She leered angrily and Sheldon looked confused. She remembered how before the break Sheldon would always correct her and ridicule everything. And worse sometimes ruin something that should have been good and romantic.

"Get out the car!"

"Are you angry Amy?" Sheldon asked nervously. He began to feel the germs on himself again. He remembered the lessons Penny gave and how he should respect her feelings "I am really sorry I should have been respectful of what you thought of that moment."

"Thank you Sheldon." Amy said but she wasn't sure if she'd forgiven him.

"Can you at least come up to the apartment with me?" he asked. He wanted to more time to redeem what he said.

"Fine." Amy said. She got out of the car and followed him into the apartment building.

#

Sheldon opened the door to his apartment and turned on the lights. He saw Leonard and Penny weren't home, meaning they were still out or having sex in Penny's apartment, and walked in.

"I made you upset so I should make you a hot beverage." Sheldon said "But I am also upset at having a million germs crawling everywhere so you need to make me one too."

"Just clean yourself off okay?" Amy demanded.

Sheldon sighed and walked away from her. Amy instinctively put on the kettle and began to make the two of them a tea, like they were a couple again. She heard the shower run for several minutes and afterwards Sheldon came out wearing a completely different outfit.

"Wow you actually are making me a hot beverage." Sheldon said "Thought you'd completely ignored that."

Amy realised that she'd done that like they weren't on a break but tried to hide it like it was nothing.

"I am just being nice to you." Amy lied "You had a bad night."

"Would you classify this date as a failure?" Sheldon asked seriously as Amy handed him his tea.

"I wish that we could have the time to discuss our future and what we'd do." Amy said "But we ended up disagreeing in the car."

"Taylor Swift was right." Sheldon shook his head in disappointment "We are never ever getting back together."

"Oh don't say that." Amy said.

Sheldon thought hard for a second and came up with a convincing conclusion, something he never hypothesised at the beginning of the night.

"I am being serious Amy." Sheldon said "I was really nervous for tonight as I'd hoped to get back together with you. I even was going to say what I said to Penny to you. But tonight instead was a logical realisation. You called this a 'break' but it was just postponing the inevitable. One day you'd be so desperate for coitus and I would refuse again and you'd leave forever."

"Sheldon you can't…" Amy felt stunned.

"Penny taught me to respect your feelings and in the end you'll be a lot happier if we ended this now." Sheldon explained "The math I've done in my mind can't be wrong."

"Sheldon you haven't thought this through." Amy pleaded.

"Sorry Amy but it is for the best." He looked down in sadness and wanted to get out the situation before he cried. "Thanks for the tea." He said and walked back to his bedroom. He saw the ring box with Amy's engagement ring in it which he moved to his room so Leonard wouldn't find it. He began to cry with tears flooding down his face. Now he couldn't use it. He expected the night's math to equal a positive but it ended up negative.

#

Amy walked out of Apartment 4A and slammed the door. Tears started rushing down her face and she couldn't stand anymore so she sat down in grief. She thought how stupid she was to take too much time to decide as now she had no choice. She felt like such a fool.

"I can't wait to take all your clothes off and show you this wedding is worth it." Amy heard Penny say as she walked up the stairs. She heard Leonard giggle at this statement. They both then saw Amy in the sad state she was in.

"Oh My Gosh! Amy!" Penny crouched down in front of her. "What happened?"

"Sheldon broke us up." Amy said in between tears "I can't believe it."

"Sheldon broke up with you?" Leonard looked confused "I thought he was trying to get you back."

"He apparently finally realised 'this was for the better'." Amy said sobbing.

"I need to talk to Sheldon about this!" Penny looked angry "After all the help I gave him and he just throws it to the side. I thought he really loved you."

"He does." Amy said "That is why he did it." She stood up and wiped away the tears.

"I should go before it gets too late." She said "Have fun with the fiancé sex." She walked down the stairs and out of the building. She got in the car and sobbed continuously on the way home and that night as she went to sleep. She couldn't believe it.

#

"I can't believe it." Penny said to Leonard as they stood shocked after Amy left.

"Are you saying fiancé sex isn't fun?" Leonard tried to lighten the mood.

"This isn't the time for jokes." Penny warned "This means there will trouble with the two of them at the wedding."

"What do you mean?" Leonard asked.

"Two exes in a contained space sounds dangerous Leonard." She explained "And they might still be hung up for each other."

"Wouldn't it be great if we could get them back together?" Leonard asked.

"We could do that!" Penny said excitedly. It was her job as part of the girl's plan to get Sheldon and Amy back together. "But that'll mean we'll be busy with that and finding Raj a girlfriend."

"We have to find Raj a girlfriend?" Leonard asked. Penny nodded. "We will be very busy. And then there is also the wedding planning. But I wanted a stress-free night so we should have that sex now?"

"Certainly." Penny smiled and the two walked into Penny's apartment.

 **Thanks for reading. This chapter was mostly focused on Sheldon and Amy and I hope you are all okay with that. I can't believe what happened in this chapter as it seemed to just write itself. Poor things I am hoping my future plotline will be good for them. And Penny has another thing she needs to so she'll be stressed out with that and the wedding planning. Next chapter will be more of the other characters who weren't in this chapter and the aftermath of this chapter.**

 **If you liked then please favourite, follow and review so I know you did. Thankyou** bamadude **and** SRAM **for reviewing since I last updated.**

 **Thank you again**

 **ClintEye**


	10. Chapter 10

It had almost been a week since the Sunday that Amy and Sheldon broke up. It was the next Saturday and Amy, Bernadette and Penny were wedding dress shopping. Penny had put on a beautiful wedding dress and was doing a mini-catwalk show before them.

"What do you think girls?" Penny did a seductive pose.

"You are so beautiful." Bernadette complimented.

"Show some skin." Amy said in an annoyed tone. Penny and Bernadette looked at Amy with confusion. "I mean… beautiful Penny."

"Is there something the matter Amy?" Penny asked.

"You already know what is the matter." Amy told them.

"Sheldon." Bernadette assumed.

"Yeah."

"You need to get him back." Penny said.

"This is all my fault." Amy shook her head. "I took a break and that scared him away."

"Don't say that Amy…" Bernadette said but was interrupted.

"That is the only logical conclusion." Amy said. She rolled and he eyes and began to storm off "I need to go to the toilet. I'll see you later."

Penny waited for her to leave before saying anything. "We need to help her."

"I agree. But for now let choose a dress. The wedding is just getting closer." Bernadette said. Penny nodded and walked over to another dress.

#

Amy had re-joined the group after Penny and Bernadette had picked a dress and were now at a bakery tasting wedding cakes. The girl working at the bakery put down three different sample cakes in front of them. The girl looked about 25 and had brown hair.

"These are the three types of wedding cakes that we make." She said "We can also do a variety of decorations and styles. I personally like the one with the stars."

The three of them took a spoon and tasted each of the cakes.

"I like the first one." Penny said. "Tastes like a dream."

"I agree." Bernadette nodded.

"I prefer the second one." Amy said. "But that is probably because I've got so much the matter with me."

"Seriously Amy." Penny said angrily "Wedding shopping with the bridesmaids is meant to be special. Stop ruining it."

"I am not ruining it." Amy defended.

"Then please stop being so moody." Penny told her.

"My boyfriend broke up with me…" Amy began to argue.

"Six days ago Amy." Bernadette said "I think it is time to move on."

"Six days doesn't just replace a five year relationship." Amy glared.

"You can at least try and act happy for me." Penny glared back.

"Ladies." The girl working at the shop spoke. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I think you should give someone time to be moody after a break up."

"See some random is more supportive." Amy said.

"I'd also like to know if you want to order a cake." The girl smiled.

Amy glanced at the girl as she somehow seemed familiar. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so." The girl thought to herself.

"Have you ever been to Caltech?" Amy asked as she began to recall.

"I am currently getting my PHD at Caltech." She smiled back. "I am working here so I can pay for it."

"What is your degree?" Bernadette asked.

"Astronomy." She said "I just love the mysteries of space. "

Penny opened her eyes in realisation. This girl was studying astro-something and could bake. Raj would never forgive her if she let her out of her just get away.

"We have a friend who does astronomy…"Penny began.

"Astrophysics," Bernadette reminded.

"Yeah and I'm sure you'd made great friends. His name is Rajesh…"

"Koothrappali?" The girl finished her sentence "He discovered the planetary object beyond the Kuiper belt, 2008 NQ17. I've wanted to meet him since I first came to Caltech."

"We could always arrange a meeting." Penny suggested.

"That'd be great." She smiled "But that doesn't mean you'd get a discount on the price of the cake."

"Damn." Penny said sarcastically. She pointed to the first sample and said "I want that one."

"Cool." She said "And my name is Maria."

#

The four guys were sitting in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment playing a video game.

"Suck it Sheldon." Raj hit the controller furiously. "King Koothrappali beats Sheldor anytime." Suddenly Sheldon's character threw a grenade which exploded Raj into many pieces.

"Playing possum worked." Sheldon smiled "Now who can 'suck it'?"

Leonard's phone suddenly buzzed and he paused the game. He looked at the phone and saw a message from Penny.

"Penny just sent me a text message with a picture of the wedding cake she picked." Leonard showed the group the photo. "Looks delicious."

"Can we please not talk about wedding nonsense when the girls are not around?" Sheldon demanded.

"Sheldon this is an important time in Leonard's life." Raj reminded "He is allowed to discuss it and the bro-code states we have to listen."

"The bro-code doesn't exist." Sheldon rolled his eyes as he got up to get some water. "The room-mate agreement on the other hand is legally binding."

"Why bring up the roommate agreement?" Howard asked.

"Section 8, SubSection B,Paragraph 6." Sheldon began quoting "If a roommate is planning a baptism, wedding or funeral they are not allowed to annoy the other roommate with the details unless they ask. Did I ask, Leonard?"

"No." Leonard said quietly.

"Then don't mention it!" Sheldon said louder and stormed off into his room.

"What is his problem?" Howard asked with concern.

"He has been like this since the break up on Sunday." Leonard explained "When Penny and I were saying we loved each other before she left he put his hands over his ear and sang Let It Go."

"That's harsh dude." Raj reacted.

"We really need to get him and Amy back together." Leonard said.

"I think I may have a plan." Howard said. The two guys listened in as Howard began explaining.

#

"What do you think of the plan?" Howard asked Bernadette. It was Saturday night and they were in their house.

"I don't know Howie…" Bernadette responded.

"It is certainly better than any of your plans." Howard criticised. "Remember when we went over to Leonard's apartment to convince him to get married."

"Well it worked eventually…" Bernadette argued. Howard rolled his eyes. "Anyways I think we found a girl for Raj. She is an astrophysics student."

"Well good luck with that." Howard said "Raj will find a way to make it awkward."

Stuart walked past them at that moment with a tub full of ice cream whilst in his underwear.

"Stuart,I've told you several times about wearing pants" Bernadette reprimanded

"Not that anything matters." Stuart looked sad.

"What is the matter." Bernadette asked curiously

"I went to two appointments this week and somehow I lost out to some blonde bimbo." Stuart tried to explain.

"What do you mean?" Howard questioned.

"I was almost got a job as an animator for a new TV show." He said "They liked my art but said her confidence was better than mine. I bet they meant her breasts."

"I'm so sorry Stuart." Bernadette comforted.

"This wasn't the plan." Stuart shook his head "I was meant to get that job and get that apartment I wanted."

"What apartment?"

"I went to Leonard's place and bumped into this girl who was moving." He explained "She said the apartment above Leonard's was being sold and I thought I could rent it."

"If you want we could always let you borrow some money." Bernadette said.

"He gets an apartment but I can't buy that Avengers Lego set." Howard complained and earnt a glare from Bernadette.

"No guys, it is fine." Stuart said "I'll just rot here for the rest of my life." He walked off back to his bedroom.

"I guess what Amy said really got to him." Bernadette said "But it isn't much use if he doesn't have the money."

"Too bad." Howard shook his head in disappointment. "He almost left the house."

 **That is the end of this chapter. I don't really have much to add except that I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you aren't angry for having to wait so long. Also please review, favourite and follow so I know you liked it. Thanks** michiamoverano, bamadude, kimbee73 and SRAM **for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you again.**

 **ClintEye**


	11. Chapter 11

Sheldon was sitting in his spot reading the latest edition of The New England Journal of High Energy Physics. He was particularly annoyed at a scientist who had a doctorate in Chemistry having an article written about him. He rolled his eyes and looked over to the table in the kitchen where Penny and Leonard were talking softly as to not disturb him. He knew they didn't want him to hear about the wedding after all his recent outbursts about it, most recently when playing games the day before.

"If the planned date is on a Saturday then you'll have to take in consideration my food schedule for the menu." Sheldon interrupted.

"Damn his Vulcan hearing." Penny said to herself. "He could hear us talking about the reception menu."

"What happened to the roommate agreement and not talking about the wedding." Leonard smiled smugly.

"If I ask you can discuss it." Sheldon said.

"You didn't ask, you just interrupted." Leonard rebutted.

"Well you can get a lawyer." Sheldon said annoyed. He got up and left the apartment before Leonard or Penny could say anything. He walked down the stairs and out into the street. Sheldon walked past a coffee shop and decided he might as well get a hot beverage, since he was upset. He went up to the counter.

"What hot beverages do you have?" he queried the worker there.

"We have a variety of caffeinated beverages as listed on the sign behind me." The worker iterated.

"No I am not doing drugs." Sheldon shook his head and the worker gave a confused look. "Anything else?"

"We sell hot chocolate"

"No there is no 'R' in this month's name." Sheldon explained "Oh well I guess life was just meant to disappoint."

He turned around feeling saddened when he saw Amy sitting in a seat sipping a cappuccino from a mug. She saw Sheldon and instantly her eyes darted to the ground. Sheldon thought nothing of it and instinctively walked over to her.

"Salutations Amy." He greeted politely.

"Hello." Amy responded with a fake smile.

"How have you been?" Sheldon asked genuinely.

"You know…life goes on." She said generically. She glanced around the shop as if she were looking for something.

"As a physicist I assure you I already knew that." Sheldon boasted without thinking.

Amy almost gave Sheldon a look of derision when someone walked up to the table.

"Amy nice to see you again." The man said "And…"

"Sheldon Cooper." Amy clarified "Who was just leaving." She glared at him as if to send him a message.

"I wasn't." Sheldon didn't understand.

"Yeah you had that thing to do…" Amy hinted.

"Amy has all that caffeine gone to your head?" Sheldon asked.

"Sheldon this is a date!" Amy began to get angry.

"Oh..." Sheldon said in realisation. "Well Gooday to you." Sheldon quickly walked away before the situation got any more awkward. How did Amy get a date so quickly? Was he meant to be dating to? He had no experience with this and now he was just confused.

#

"Have we told all the family about the wedding?" Penny questioned Leonard.

"My brother, sister and their families are both coming and I told my mother." Leonard answered. "She said she'd be available but wouldn't be if she found something better to do."

"Ouch." Penny's face winced a little "I told my family and they all jumped at the chance to come. All that is left is for that get-out-of-rehab pass for my brother that I applied for. Hopefully it'll be processed in time."

"I sent out all the formal invitations to everyone." Leonard smiled "Even Sheldon's getting a pretty letter."

"You could have just gave it to him." Penny wondered aloud.

"Sheldon wanted to follow traditions." Leonard explained "You know how he is about formalities." Penny nodded knowingly.

"Where is Sheldon?" Penny was concerned "He has been gone for a few hours now and it'll get dark soon."

"I'll call him." Leonard got his phone out and dialled but no one picked up. Leonard quickly dialled Howard and he picked up.

"What is it Leonard?"

"Have you seen Sheldon?" Leonard asked.

"Not since he stormed off to his room yesterday." Howard remembered "Why?"

"He has been gone for some time and he isn't answering his phone. We're just worried." Leonard explained "Just call if you see him."

"I will." Howard said. Leonard said goodbye and hung up.

"Should we go out and look for him?" Leonard conjectured with worry in his voice. "I wish he didn't remove the phone tracking after we traced him to the train station."

"Than what if he comes back?" Penny asked.

"That is true." Leonard said. "I'll go out and you can stay."

"Great." Penny smiled. Leonard grabbed his key and was about to leave when Penny's phone began to ring. She picked it up and heard Amy on the other end.

"I heard Sheldon was missing." Amy told Penny "Bernadette texted me."

"It might be nothing." Penny said "Why? Have you seen him?"

"I saw him a few hours ago at this coffee shop where I was…" Amy paused for a second "Ordering coffee."

"Did you see where he went?" Penny asked.

"No he walked away angrily when he realised…" Amy paused again "I was ordering coffee."

"Amy tell me the truth." Penny demanded sternly.

"Fine!" Amy gave in "I met this guy last night and we were there on a date. I thought after I was ruining our shopping with my sadness I needed to do something to make me feel better. But Sheldon was there for some reason and he saw us."

"He is probably really confused. Leonard is going out to look for him now." Penny said "Do you mind helping us?"

"Helping find my ex-boyfriend…" Amy said hesitantly.

"Amy…please…" Penny pleaded.

"Ok I'll look out for him." Amy agreed "But I won't promise anything." Amy hang up at that moment before any more demands were made.

Leonard heard all of this and commented "He probably was really sad after that. I need to hurry." He quickly left the apartment.

#

"Who wants kisses?" Raj smooched his dog playfully. His phone began to ring. He saw it was Penny, put Cinnamon down and picked up.

"Hey Penny." He greeted "Found me a girlfriend yet?"

"Yeah kinda." Penny said "But I'm not concerned with that now."

"That is a pity." Raj said "I guess Cinnamon's kisses will have to do."

"Raj!" Penny raised her tone "Sheldon might be missing!"

"Sheldon isn't missing." Raj said confused.

"Why would you say that?" Penny questioned.

"He was here about an hour ago." Raj explained. "He looked really sad."

"What happened?" Penny asked.

"He wanted to know about picking up girls." Raj described "I explained I was the worst possible person to ask about that so he left."

"Is that it?" Penny inquired.

"Yeah." Raj said "And he asked which bars were the best to pick up girls. I said I didn't know."  
"And you just let him leave?" Penny said annoyed.

"What was I meant to do?" Raj asked.

"Maybe not let him out into the streets." Penny angered "Because now we've narrowed our scouting to every bar."

"I didn't think about it Penny. I'm Sorry." Raj apologised.

"Don't worry I am just giving you a hard time out of worry." Penny took a deep breath to calm herself "Thanks for the info." She said goodbye and hung up.

"That was weird wasn't it Cinnamon?" Raj asked playfully. Cinnamon just rolled over and requested to be patted.

#

" _This isn't a bar Sheldon." Stuart had to explain "This is the comic book store."_

" _Yeah but you know about bars don't you?" Sheldon queried._

" _Bars set off my claustrophobia." Stuart explained "Can't go in without my medication."_

" _No one is any help." Sheldon said in frustration "Looks like I'll have to use Yelp. I guess my phone moved up to be my number one favourite person."_

" _Are you sure you don't want to sit down and I can get Leonard to pick you up?" Stuart asked._

" _I'm a grown man so I can handle it myself." Sheldon exclaimed angrily "Now go back to your menial employment."_

 _Stuart looked at him annoyed. "Fine then leave. I don't care."_

"Then he left." Stuart explained to Amy "You are pretty smart to come to the comic book store first."

"You shouldn't have been so mean." Amy looked harshly at Stuart "He already got that from me. Now I'll have to tell Penny all this."

Leonard walked into the store and saw Amy and Stuart talking.

"Was he here?" Leonard asked out of breath. Like Amy he decided to check if he went to the comic book store first.

"Of course." Amy said in derision. "He then went to find a bar on Yelp according to Stuart"

"I'll text Penny the details we just found." Leonard said with an irritated tone.

"Are you ok Leonard?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, this is just a little annoying."

"Why?"

"Well this is meant to be a happy time planning my wedding, not stressing about Sheldon." Leonard explained.

"Sorry that is kind of my fault." Amy said "But I can help you find him."

"How?" Leonard replied.

"I think I know his Yelp password." Amy explained.

"I could never get that password even by looking over his shoulder." Leonard was curious.

"As he grew more comfortable with me he became less cautious. I happened to see it when he typed it in once." Amy explained.

"Nice." Stuart interrupted. "Are you two going to buy something?"  
"Why were you so angry at him Stuart?" Amy than inquired, ignoring Stuart's question.

"He offended my employment. It just reminded me that my life was going nowhere. I applied for a job as an animator and almost got it. But I lost out to someone else." Stuart clarified

"I'm so sorry." Leonard said in condolence.

"No need." Stuart replied "You could always buy something to make me feel better."

"We need to find Sheldon." Amy hurried. "Thank you Stuart." Leonard and Amy left the store quickly and Stuart was alone in the empty store.

#

"This might work Honey." Howard said to Bernadette.

"Why would this work?" Bernadette questioned.

"My plan to get Sheldon and Amy together." He explained. "With Amy on a date and Sheldon running around to bars I think I know how to put my plan in the mix."

"Can you explain it to me?" Bernadette asked.

"Of course." Howard said. "Making Sheldon jealous was easy and soon he'll be realising that other girls aren't as good as Amy. Then he'll want her back."

"You remembered how he first asked her out." Bernadette said smugly. "With Stuart making Sheldon jealous."

"Of course." Howard smiled "If it worked once, it can work again."

 **Will Sheldon be found? A bit of mystery for all of you. Hopefully this isn't to angsty for you. I just find it a realistic thing for Sheldon to do in this situation. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did please follow, favourite and review as it tells me that you did. Thank you** bamadude, kimbee73, SRAM and michiamoverano **for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks again for reading.**

 **ClintEye**


	12. Chapter 12

Amy quickly opened her phone and typed Yelp into her internet application. When the page loaded she began typing Sheldon's username and password into the home page.

"I hope the password still works." She states to Leonard who was sitting next to her watching attentively. "Considering the circumstances it might not..."

"Why?" Leonard questioned curiously "Is it embarrassing?"

"The password is 'AmyIsMyBae01#'." Amy explained "Since we are broken up he might've changed it."

"'Amy Is My Bae'?" Leonard quoted whilst shocked "I never expected him to be sentimental in his passwords."

Amy typed the password in and pressed enter. The page buffered for a second and Amy's heart filled with relief when Sheldon's profile popped up. Amy smiled.

"Do you know how to use Yelp?" Amy asked Leonard.

"Just go to browsing history to see what pages he looked at last." Leonard pointed at the screen. Amy clicked on it and five Pasadena bars appeared on the list.

"Either he is doing a pub crawl." Amy thought allowed "Or he was comparing bars to see which the best was."

"We need to go to each of them." Amy then said "Maybe we can recruit Raj, Howard and Bernadette to help."

"Good idea." Leonard complimented "Let's hope we can find him."

#

Because of the amount of people involved Leonard, Amy, Penny, Howard, Bernadette and Raj started a group chat with each other for efficient communication.

 _Is he at any of the bars? – Penny_

 _He isn't here – Leonard._

 _Same- Bernadette_

 _Not here either – Raj_

 _Not here – Howard_

 _I'm afraid I'll have to concur with the above – Amy_

 _What are we going to do now? – Penny_

 _We should ask around the bar. He may have been there and left – Leonard_

 _Good idea Leonard – Howard_

Amy put the phone in her pocket and went up to the bar tender.

"What would you like?" The bar-tender asked.

"I'm not looking for a beverage." Amy answered "I'm just hoping you can help me find somebody."

"I will if you give me twenty bucks." The bar-tender smiled mischievously. Amy sighed and got her purse out. She found twenty dollars and gave it to him. She couldn't believe she was actually paying to find her ex-boyfriend. "So who are you trying to find?" the bar-tender asked.

"A man named Sheldon Cooper. He is tall, smart, kind of annoying and handsome." Amy explained. She took out her phone and found a picture of him. She showed it to the bar-tender.

"Would he be wearing the same t-shirt as in the picture?" The bar-tender queried.

"I think he was." Amy tried to remember the encounter from earlier that day.

"He was here before." The bar-tender chuckled to himself. "And you are right he is annoying." Amy almost glared in irritation at the guy.

"Do you know where he went?" Amy asked.

"After he annoyed me with how alcohol was bad for the brain and should need a permit to purchase he went over to a group of girls." The bar-tender remembered.

"What happened with those girls?" Amy wondered aloud.

"There was one which he seemed really hit it off with." The bar-tender recalled "He went out of the bar with her."

"What?!" Amy almost screeched in shock. "Do you have any idea where they went?"

"I'm sorry lady I wasn't eaves dropping." The bar-tender snarled "I do have a job here. Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"I guess not." Amy shook her head disappointingly. "Thank you so much."

Amy turned away from the bar-tender and went back to her phone. The group chat had messages she missed.

 _No one here saw Sheldon – Leonard_

 _Unfortunately I have to say the same –Bernadette_

 _Same – Raj_

 _Did you really ask people Raj? – Howard_

 _Okay I didn't but you try being me and having certain social anxieties – Raj_

 _The bar-tender here saw Sheldon. Apparently he went off with some girl – Amy_

 _:O – Leonard_

 _Are you sure. That is un-Sheldon like – Howard_

 _I'm just texting what I've been told –Amy_

"Excuse me." Someone tapped Amy on the shoulder. Amy turned and saw a girl standing in front of her.

"Yes." Amy responded.

"The girl he left with is my friend." She told her. "I overheard your conversation."

"Can you help me find her?" Amy asked.

"Sure." She said "If it helps I can text her and ask if she is still with him."

"Thanks and who is the girl?" Amy asked curiously.

"My friend, Mandy Chao." The girl said.

Amy's eyes opened widely. That was the girl who Leonard made out with when he was on the boat. Amy once again began texting in the group chat.

 _Please give us an update Amy! – Penny_

 _Apparently the girl is Mandy Chao - Amy_

 _THAT SLUT! – Penny_

 _Keep calm Penny it was one kiss – Leonard_

 _I am talking about who Sheldon was with - Amy_

 _Oh – Leonard_

 _Can we contact her? – Howard_

 _One of her friends is texting her now – Amy_

"Mandy says Sheldon is no longer with her." The friend told Amy.

"Then where is he?" Amy asked.

"Mandy took him to her apartment and says he couldn't take kissing a random so he went to go home." Mandy's friend said.

"But he hasn't arrived home." Amy felt panicked "Penny would have said something."

 _She says Sheldon went to go home – Amy_

 _But he isn't here – Penny_

 _Just keep a watch for him then – Raj_

"Do you mind you can give me Mandy's address so I can see if I find if he is near there?" Amy pleaded to Mandy's friend "Please!"

"Ok but don't turn out to be a weird creep or anything." The friend half-giggled. She gave Amy the address.

 _You guys can go home now. I am going to Mandy's address to see if he is near there – Amy_

 _Text me the address. I'll meet you there – Leonard_

#

Amy shut the car door which she parked in front of Mandy's apartment complex. She felt her phone buzz and expected it to be one of the gang. It instead was her date from earlier that day saying how much fun he had getting to know her and how he would love a second date.

"Not right now." Amy said to herself. If he found out she was searching for her ex-boyfriend he would never go on a second date and deem her not emotionally ready for a new relationship. As she walked to the door she saw Leonard and went up to him.

"I hope he is close by." Leonard said in between breaths "Searching for Sheldon has never been more exhausting."

"I can do this myself if you want." Amy reassured.

"That would be really awkward once you find him" Leonard stated "I think it is best if I am with you."

They'd walked to Mandy's apartment and Amy knocked on the door. Mandy opened the door but looked ruffled as if she put clothes on really quickly.

"Leonard what are you doing here?" Mandy looked confused.

"We are looking for Sheldon." Leonard told her "Your friend said he went with you to your apartment."

"Well I remember texting that friend that he wasn't here anymore." Mandy said annoyed "So please go!"

"This is the closest thing we have!" Amy glared at her "Just help us!"

"I thought you two broke up." Mandy rebutted "Why do you care?"

"Stop avoiding the subject!" Amy felt more anger. Leonard looked at Amy with concern.

"He said he was going home and that is all I know." Mandy reiterated "So leave me alone." Mandy than slammed the door on them.

"Well that was rude." Amy muttered.

"This sucks." Leonard shook his head. Leonard phone started to ring and he picked it up.

"Hello." Leonard said.

"Hello Leonard." A girl said on the other end "It is Alex, Sheldon's assistant."

"I'm sorry Alex I'm busy right now." Leonard said.

"Is it another paper?" Alex sounded excited "Maybe we can discuss over lunch some time."

"Oh how nice." Leonard remarked "But right now I'm trying to track down Sheldon. We've lost him."

"Oh that is why I was calling." Alex said "I just saw him trying to crawl out of Mandy Chao's window. I live in the building across from her."

"Thanks so much Alex." Leonard felt relieved.

"Well anytime." Alex sounded happy "And if you want lunch anytime..."

"Sorry I've got to get him before he runs off." Leonard had to hang up. Leonard began to walk away quickly and Amy followed.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Sheldon is crawling out of Mandy's window." Leonard explained "Mandy was probably pressuring Sheldon and didn't want us to interrupt getting into his pants. She even lied to her friend"

"I see why Penny hates her." Amy said "I mean, apart from the make out incident."

The two left the building and walked towards Mandy Chao's window. They saw a figure manage to crawl down from a first floor apartment and Leonard immediately recognised him as Sheldon.

"Sheldon!" Leonard shouted.

"Go away Leonard!" Sheldon exclaimed and he began to walk quickly away from them. "I need to find a girl to date not some floosy!"

"Why?" Amy shouted

Sheldon hadn't seen Amy and stopped walking away. "What are you doing here Amy?"

"I wanted to find you." Amy told him.

"Why?" Sheldon said "I am not longer romantically linked with you."

"I still care I guess." Amy tried to smile at Sheldon "Will you please just come home with us?"

"Fine!" Sheldon answered "But I'll resume my date hunting tomorrow."

"If you wish buddy." Leonard comforted.

#

Leonard and Amy opened the door and Sheldon slowly walked into his apartment. Penny was sitting down looking worried and when she saw Sheldon she instantly got up and hugged him.

"Sweetie I was so worried!" she said "Don't ever run away again!"

"I cannot guarantee that." Sheldon said back "And please stop hugging me I feel like I am being strangled by an anaconda."

Penny released him from the hug and he felt comfortable again.

"Do you want a hot beverage?" Penny asked "I know you are sad and you taught me that I have to do that."

"Looks like someone finally started listening to me about that." Sheldon said and Penny smiled. Leonard rolled his eyes. "But I'll have to decline. I need to sleep so I am ready to begin dating tomorrow." He gave one last acknowledgement and that was to Amy.

"Thank you Amy." He said to her and then he disappeared into his bedroom.

#

Raj returned home from looking at the bar for Sheldon. He'd received a text message just than from Penny stating that he'd been found crawling out of Mandy Chao's window which seemed really strange. He sat on the couch and took a deep breath. Cinammon walked over and Raj began patting her. Raj's phone than began to ring and it was an unknown number. He picked it up.

"Hello." The voice on the other end said "I was meant to call earlier but I was stuck at work."

"Who is this?" Raj asked.

"Surely Penny told you about me?" the girl sounded confused "She said to call you today."

"She didn't" Raj said "She has been busy though. Planning a wedding can get tough especially if your friend decides to run away."

"Well my name is Maria." The girl talked "I work at the bakery where she ordered her wedding cake for our Las Vegas outlet. Anyways I am getting my PHD in Astronomy at Caltech and have read all your papers and followed all of your discoveries."

"Thankyou." Raj started to blush and was glad she wasn't in the room with him to see that.

"I really want to meet you." Maria told him "Can I meet you tomorrow maybe on your lunch break?"

"Of course Maria." Raj smiled. "I usually have lunch about 12."

"Cool I'll text you where I'm going to be." Maria said "It is a pleasure Dr. Koothrappali."

"Call me Raj."

"Okay Raj."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"Ok, well I've got to get some sleep." Maria stated "See you tomorrow."

"Goodbye." Raj said just as Maria hung up.

Raj smiled. Maybe this wasn't a 'date' per say but at least it was something.

 **Thanks for reading. Please favourite, follow and review if you liked. Thank you** bamadude , nibbler747 and michiamoverano **for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	13. Chapter 13

The morning after the 'climbing out of the window' incident Sheldon walked tiredly into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal. Leonard and Penny were sitting on the couch and Sheldon noted happily that they weren't in his spot.

"Good morning." Leonard greeted politely.

"Good morning." Sheldon followed social convention.

"How are you after last night?" Penny asked.

"I feel foolish but rejuvenated." Sheldon told her.

"So I guess tonight it'll be an early bed-time." Leonard smiled.

"Oh I see." Sheldon shook his head in disappointment "I mean I felt foolish for not picking up a girl, not for initiating the endeavour. I'm still intending to go out and find a girlfriend."

"You can't seriously tell me that you want to do last night over again." Penny looked worried. "Do you know how much of a hassle that was for us?"

"I do." Sheldon admitted "But tonight will be different. I'll work out the perfect formula to pick up girls over my lunch break and get a good girl. One not like Mindy who decides to give you a strip tease without asking."

"If you do that you have to notify us of your whereabouts at all times." Leonard demanded.

"That is a breach of privacy…"

"Sheldon!" Penny raised her voice "I will not go through another night of worry and stress over you when I'm meant to be doing that about my wedding. You WILL inform us of your whereabouts, with proof, or I will come find you and drag you back here!"

"Penny that seems…" Sheldon began.

"Do you understand?!" Penny interrupted.

"Fine!" Sheldon's face looked like an angry child's.

"Now go eat your breakfast and get ready for work!" Leonard insisted. Sheldon rolled his eyes and poured his bowl of cereal.

Penny and Leonard took a deep breath. Hopefully that wouldn't come back to get them.

#

Before his lunch break Raj tried to make sure he looked fine. He was checking himself out in his phone's camera when Howard walked in.

"Are you going home to see Cinnamon?" Howard giggled to himself.

"No." Raj responded "I am meeting a PHD student for lunch."

"Is it Maria?" Howard asked and Raj nodded. "Bernadette told me about her."

"I just don't want to act like a fool." Raj said "The worst thing I could do is scare off the future mother of my children."

Howard rolled his eyes. "You do realise this might not be a date. She is just a fan who wants to meet you. If you insinuate anything you might make it awkward."

"Don't worry." Raj reassured "I was too excited to sleep last night so I practiced what I could say."

"A doctor meeting with a PHD student shouldn't be too excited to sleep." Howard stated "I'm telling you, this might not end well."

"Seriously Howard I'll be fine." Raj insisted. His phone began to buzz and he saw it was a text from Maria that stated the location of an on-campus café where she was going for lunch. "I've got to meet with her. See you later."

Howard followed Raj out of his office and they went their separate ways. Howard, despite all of his concerns, hoped to himself that it would go well for Raj.

#

Raj took a deep breath as a he walked up to the café. He opened the door and looked around for a girl of Maria's description. Raj did Google her and found a Facebook profile picture, but everything else was private. At least the girl was rightly concerned about privacy. She saw a similar looking girl to the profile picture sitting at a table waving at him and Raj assumed it was Maria. He walked to the table and sat down in the seat across from her.

"Hello." Raj said politely with a twinge of nervousness.

"Hello." The girl in contrast sounded really excited "My name is Maria, as you already know, and I am a really big fan of all your work and it is such a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Raj tried to take it all in. "I didn't realise I had a fan club." he joked.

"I am a fan of many relevant astronomers and astrophysicists." She explained "You are just one."

"Oh." Raj stated. He suddenly felt a little less special.

"When can I expect another paper from you?" she asked quickly "I check periodically but there hasn't been anything for a while."

"I am working on something right now." Raj assured "It is just a collaboration with Dr. Morgenstern in Munich. Communication can take time on Cross-Continental projects."

"I follow his work as well." She smiled at him "This is kind of like an awesome team-up."

"Second only to the Avengers." Raj laughed to himself. Maria giggled.

"I like the Avengers." She said "I've seen all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

"The first Avengers is within my top ten favourite movies of all time." Raj stated.

"What would top that list?" Maria asked curiously.

"The Sound Of Music." Raj answered.

"Oh." Maria's facial expression changed "Well…"

"What? You don't like the Sound of Music?" Raj pondered.

"I find it kind of boring." Maria admitted "Musicals aren't my thing."

The word 'deal breaker' went through Raj's head. Yes surely they would differ on something but the fact she didn't like The Sound of Music was big.

"You don't happen to like horror movies?" Raj asked with memories of Emily in his head.

"Only well-made ones." She told him "Not gruesome third rate ones."

Raj breathed a sigh of relief. This would mean not being dragged along to a screening of Entanglement of A Thousand Corpses.

"So you work at a bakery?" Raj thought of a new topic. He felt proud of himself for keep this going for so long.

"Yeah outside of science, math and geekdom, cooking is my hobby." She smiled. "We have branches all around the country and I used to work at the one in New York."

"You were in New York?" Raj thought aloud.

"I grew up in New York." She smiled when she said this.

"Oh I grew up in…" Raj began to say.

"Let me guess." Maria interrupted. "You were a rich boy in India, son of a gynaecologist, and got your doctorate at Cambridge."

"You've seen my description on the university website." Raj smiled. Maria nodded.

"Sorry if that is creepy." She stated "I know stuff about all my favourite scientists." Out of nowhere Maria's phone started playing It's Time by Imagine Dragons and Raj noted it was an alarm.

"I love using that song as an alarm." She chuckled. "I've got to go and meet with a professor for my final project. I'll have to see you later."

"Okay well goodbye." Raj said but she'd already rushed off like The Flash. It seemed like she was always in a hurry and not waiting for him to say goodbye.

Raj smiled. The meeting wasn't romantic and he still wasn't sure if it were that kind of date but he was proud that he didn't let his anxiety take him over. Maybe that was a sign? The girl who he could actually talk to was the one he was meant to end up with? Raj reminded himself it was too early to be thinking of that and walked away from the café. His stomach rumbled. He also realised he spent all his time talking so he'd never ordered lunch.

#

"What am I doing here?" Raj asked Howard. They were sitting in a bar watching Sheldon.

"Well Bernadette had to stay late for work and I needed someone to keep me company spying on Sheldon." Howard explained.

"Why are we spying on him?" Raj continued questioning.

"Well Penny and Leonard are busy planning their wedding and they wanted someone to make sure Sheldon didn't run off again and that Sheldon was telling the truth about where he was." Howard elaborated. The two of them watched Sheldon fumble about from one table to another table of girls.

"That is disappointing." Howard said as he watched Sheldon fail "Usually Monday night girls are easier. Times must have changed since I met Bernie."

"He is at least doing better than you ever did." Raj joked "Girls always just looked at you with disgust and moved away. At least Sheldon manages to talk to them for a few minutes. It does seems though that the perfect formula for getting a girlfriend he made during lunch break isn't so perfect."

"Talking about lunch." Howard continued "How was your meeting with Maria?"

"Good but also confusing." Raj explained his feelings.

"Why?" Howard wondered aloud "Did she reveal herself to be guy and you were weirdly turned on."

"No." Raj gave Howard a confused look.

"Well that never happened to me." Howard gave a nervous giggle and pretended to look over to Sheldon.

"Anyway." Raj decided to ignore that "We had a nice chat and we really connected. But I had absolutely no indication that it was a romantic date. It probably was just a girl meeting one of her idols."

"Did she ask you on a second 'date'?" Howard asked.

"No she had to hurry to a meeting with a professor." Raj said "We didn't have much time too…" Suddenly Raj's phone buzzed and he saw a text from Maria. "Well speak of the devil."

"Did Maria text you?"

"Yeah." Raj said and he showed Howard the text.

 _I talked to my professor and I think you'd be great help for my project. Do you mind if we can meet up to discuss it? – Maria._

"What do you think?" Raj asked Howard.

"There are two possibilities." Howard thought aloud "Either she wants to get into your pants so she is using the project as an excuse to meet with you or she is using you to get a good grade."

"I think I should say yes." Raj said "If it is the former than great and if it is latter than at least I've helped someone's life be easier."

"You do that." Howard smiled. Raj began to text Maria.

"How dare you!" the two of them heard a girl raise her voice. They turned and saw Sheldon and a girl with tattoos standing up. The girl looked furious whilst Sheldon had a know-it-all facial expression.

"I'm sorry I just do not understand the logic behind tattoos." Sheldon didn't seem to care about the anger "Especially ones as ugly as yours."

"Oh no he didn't." Raj whispered to Howard.

"Apologise now!" the girl demanded.

"I'm not going to apologise for my opinion." Sheldon said with his usual tone of voice. The girl's face angered even more and her hand raised and slapped Sheldon right in the face. By then the whole bar was watching the commotion. The girl walked away in anger and Sheldon touched his face which had a medium amount of pain. He saw Howard and Raj out of the corner of his eye watching him and walked over.

"There is no chance for me to get a girlfriend now everyone in here has seen that." Sheldon said as if he didn't care that they were spying on him "One of you has to take me home!"

"Fine Sheldon." Howard said "Just don't insult anyone else on the way out."

"I'll try to." Sheldon said "And can Raj drive? Your master's degree automotive skills always make me want to throw up."

Raj laughed at how oblivious Sheldon was.

 **Thank you for reading this chapter. This was mainly focused on Raj with some Sheldon sprinkled in. I had originally intended for Bernadette to spy on Sheldon with Howard as I thought that when she did it to Amy on the show it was really funny but I felt Raj needed to explain his feelings on his meeting with Maria with someone and that was the perfect time to do so. If you liked this chapter please favourite, follow and review as it gives me some feedback and makes me want to write more. Thanks** aliceindeepdarkwonderland, bamadude and SRAM **for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks everyone once again.**

 **ClintEye**


	14. Chapter 14

For the first four days of the week Sheldon went to a different bar and on each occasion he failed to find a girlfriend. He reached a conclusion that the girls that hung out at bars were not the type of girls that would find his charm and intelligence fascinating. Meanwhile Penny could not stop hiding the fact that Amy was going out with another guy. When around Sheldon, Penny would receive a text message from Amy and when Sheldon asked what it was Penny said 'it was nothing'. However when Sheldon snuck a peak at Penny's phone, which had no password protection, he saw it was Amy gossiping to Penny about the second and third dates she went on with this guy. Sheldon knew Amy was winning the breakup and he needed to do something about that. Howard suggested asking Alex about it because she was a girl and knew more about that than the gang.

When Sheldon walked into work on Friday he saw Alex sorting out some files and sat down at his desk.

"Good morning Dr. Cooper." Alex greeted politely.

"Yes." Sheldon awkwardly nodded "Can you check my schedule for right now?"

"Sure." Alex got out her phone and looked at Sheldon's schedule "Talk to Alex about girlfriends at 9am." Alex looked at Sheldon with a confused expression.

"Yes well it is 9:02 so we'd better get started." Sheldon gestured towards a seat in front of his desk and Alex sat down cautiously.

"Is this about Amy Farrah-Fowler?" Alex asked "Word around the place is that you broke up with her."

"Word is true, but that is not what I want to discuss." Sheldon answered back "I need you to help me find my next girlfriend."

"Really Dr. Cooper? Is that appropriate?" Alex asked in confusion.

Sheldon ignored this comment and continued to talk. "At first I thought I could ask you to be my next girlfriend but I know all you want to do is pine over Leonard." Sheldon said.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Alex stuttered and looked away embarrassingly.

"Anyways find one of your friends or one of your enemies, I don't really care, and set them up on a date with me!" Sheldon said.

"Dr. Cooper!" Alex tried to get Sheldon's attention "You do realise that at the end of this month I'll be moving to start a job at MIT and you could really benefit from any final help..."

"Then this will be a fitting swan song." Sheldon interrupted "Now get going. I've got other work I have to do."

Alex sighed and left the room. Sheldon opened his laptop and went on Facebook. He saw Amy had accepted a friend request from the same guy that was on a date with her. Sheldon hoped Alex could find someone so he didn't feel so jealous.

#

Raj walked into the study room where Maria said to meet her. In the room there were several tables where students were typing on a computer or writing in a notebook. Maria was one of these students as she sat on a desk with several chairs around it and was entranced by her computer. Raj walked up to the table and sat down next to her but she didn't react. Instead she kept on typing for what seemed like a minute and then when she'd finished her eyes wondered over the paragraph she just wrote.

"Hello." Raj decided to speak up.

Maria almost jumped out of her seat when he said this. "Hi." She said shocked "I didn't see you come in."

"I can tell." Raj stated "Are you always this busy?"

"I'm working on my PHD and I have job, so yes." Maria began "And talking of my PHD one of my professors said you were an expert on a project that I am doing and that you could help."  
"I'd love to help." Raj said.

"Great." Maria looked happy. She showed Raj the assignment question that she had picked and began talking about what she thought she would do and how she would do it. Raj nodded and made comments when he thought it was necessary but it was often hard to get a word in. Raj noticed that when talking Maria often spoke very quickly and was sometimes hard to interrupt. This was amplified when talking about something she was passionate about.

After about half-an-hour later the conversation about the project was over and Maria felt pleased with the suggestions Raj gave her.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" Raj asked.

"I guess not." Maria thought to herself "I'd better get working on this project because I have work later. Thanks." Maria began to almost leave.

"So are we meeting up again?" Raj asked hopefully.

"You mean for the project?" Maria asked.

"Yeah sure." Raj expected otherwise.

"That would depend on if I need more help." Maria said "But if I do you'd be the first one I'll contact." She smiled at him flirtatiously. Raj was about to say something but Maria had already walked off. Raj couldn't seem to catch a break. She seemed to just want him as a mentor but the way she smiled at him when she replied made him think otherwise. Raj just secretly hoped she would need more help.

#

Amy walked into the cafeteria nervously. She looked around to see if any of the guys were there. Since Sheldon broke up with her she'd been going to the cafeteria a bit later as she knew Sheldon wouldn't break his schedule to avoid her. This plan had worked as she had not seen the guys at the cafeteria since the break-up. She saw Raj when she walked in, sitting at a table by himself, and immediately looked around for Sheldon. She didn't see Sheldon or even Howard and Leonard so she took a sigh of relief.

"Amy!" she saw Raj waving towards Amy. Amy politely walked up to the table and sat across from him.

"Are the other guys here?" Amy asked.

"No Amy, Sheldon is not here." Raj saw through Amy asking about the guys when all she wanted to know about was Sheldon.

"Then why are you here than?" Amy asked.

"I would've eaten lunch at our normal time" Raj explained "But I had to help a student with a project."

"Are you doing teaching now?" Amy asked.

"No. I am just helping…" Raj thought for a second "…a friend."

"Is this the girl from the wedding cake bakery?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, the one Penny recommended I should meet." Raj replied.

"And how is that going?" Amy asked.

"It turns out she just wanted to meet me because I am a scientist she is a fan of." Raj explained "And then she only wanted to meet me again for a project. I think I may have had my expectations way too high."

"That unfortunate." Amy consoled "But don't lose hope. She may just be doing all that to spend more time with you and that will lead to romance."

"That is what Howard said." Raj noted. "And how is your love life?"

Amy contemplated telling Raj anything. She'd told Penny and Bernadette but they'd promised not to tell their respected partners as they'd tell Sheldon and she didn't want to upset Sheldon anymore, especially after seeing him run away.

"You have to promise not to tell Sheldon." Amy looked straight into Raj's eyes.

"Of course. Sisters before misters." Raj nodded.

"I've been on a second and third date with a person." Amy told Raj "He is really nice. I don't feel I have the same connection that I had with Sheldon but I am hoping that'll improve with time."

"Sheldon won't like that." Raj said "He has been driving himself crazy trying to find a date to rival your date."

"Too bad." Amy sighed to herself "I still feel like I care for him and I don't want to upset him. I wish I hated him like an ex should."

"Maybe you should try a platonic relationship with him?" Raj suggested "If you two were friends he would be supportive instead of trying to best you."

"You do realise this is Sheldon we are talking about?" Amy looked at Raj with derision.

"Sheldon has normal emotions like all of us." Raj commented "I still think you should give it a try." Raj ate the last of his lunch at that moment and got up from the table. "Thanks for the chat Amy. I've got to get back to work now."

"Thanks Raj." Amy thanked and Raj walked away.

#

"Are you sure this is the place?" Bernadette asked Howard as they walked into a tall building located on the outskirts of the Hollywood area.

"This was the address from the email you snooped off of Stuart." Howard remembered "Now we just need to find the animation department."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bernadette panicked "We might make the situation worse for Stuart."

"We have to try." Howard walked up to a desk and talked to a guy at the reception desk. "Can you please direct us to the animation department?"

"Do you have an appointment?" the man asked.

"We need to talk to someone about an employee." Bernadette chimed in "It is urgent."

"I'll put a call in but I can't guarantee anything." He told them. He picked up the phone and began talking. "The animation manager would like to know your names."

"My name is Bernadette Howards and this is Wolowitz Rostenkowski." Bernadette said immediately and Howard had a moment of confusion before he realised Bernadette was creating fake names in case anything happened.

The guy went back to the phone and continued to talk. He then hung up and said to them. "The animation manager said she is available now if you go to her office. Third floor. Office 3a." Howard thanked the guy and the two walked into a nearby lift. The lift went up to the third floor and the two walked up to 3a and knocked on the door.

"Come in." A female voice called. The two walked in and saw a woman, who was about 30 with long blonde hair and thick glasses, sitting at a chair behind a desk with a name plate saying 'Linda Wade'. Howard and Bernadette sat down in two chairs in front of her. "What would you like?" she asked them.

"We are here to talk about Stuart Bloom." Howard clarified.

"Oh I remember him." Wanda recalled "He had great talent but not enough confidence."

"That is certainly surprising." Bernadette tried her best fake look of disbelief. "We are wondering if you hired him."

"No, he made the final two candidates but we chose someone else instead." The woman explained "Can you explain how this is relevant to me?"

"We just saw his artwork and wanted him to animate for us." Howard lied "He is going to be big in this industry. I'd hate to be the one who didn't choose him."

"Really?" Linda asked.

"Yeah I heard that Pixar wanted to hire him to help with The Incredibles sequel." Bernadette fibbed.

"We just wanted to know if you had anyway we could contact him?" Howard asked.

Linda looked like she was deep in thought before she decided to reply. "I'm sorry I don't."

"Well than we'll have to go all the way to Pixar headquarters." Howard smiled. "Thank you for seeing us."

"It was only a bit of my time Bernadette and Wolowitz." Linda said politely.

Howard and Bernadette said goodbye and walked out of the office.

"I'm pretty sure she was lying." Bernadette said to Howard.

"How so?"

"My dad was a cop so he taught me about spotting lying." Bernadette began "And I think she didn't give us anything so we couldn't hire him, like she was re-thinking her decision not to hire him."

"Crafty." Howard smiled. He certainly hoped this would work.

 **Finally done! I've been working on this chapter constantly all week and I am happy that is finally finished. I am finally off college and on summer holidays for many weeks, hence why I uploaded 3 chapters in 3 days last weekend, and whilst I am still doing stuff throughout the week(and I've been sick so it can be hard to concentrate) I should be updating more often. Thankyou everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed and please continue doing so. Thanks** aliceindeepdarkwonderland, bamadude, michiamoverano and SRAM **for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you all again.**

 **ClintEye.**


	15. Chapter 15

Leonard and Penny were around the kitchen table with a computer and a pile of returned invitations which now had whether the person was going and whether the person was bringing a plus one indicated on them.

"We need to get the caterer to order more food as everyone is bringing a plus one." Penny felt flustered "Everyone except Stuart."

"I can't believe we only have two weeks left to organise the rest of this." Leonard realised "Are you sure you don't want to postpone it to a later date?"

"NO!" Penny said instantly and left Leonard shocked "If we move the date than we'll lose the Las Vegas wedding place and I've already pre-ordered the dress, the cake, the caterers, the band and everyone else for there."

"Okay don't freak out." Leonard said "And we've still got three invitations to look through." Leonard picked up a small pile.

"Those are just the ones from Amy, Raj and Howard and Bernadette." Penny said "Howard and Bernadette are each other's plus one and Amy is taking the guy she is dating."

"And Raj?"

"I haven't looked at his." Penny answered.

Leonard opened the envelope with Raj's invitation and saw that Raj had ticked that he was taking a plus one.

"Who would Raj be taking?" Leonard pondered.

"Probably that Maria girl." Penny said without though.

"Are you sure about that?" Leonard asked. "The last I heard was that they shared a student-teacher relationship."

"Maybe he ticked plus one as positive thinking." Penny reasoned "He wants to take someone but he just doesn't have the person."

"We'll have to wait and see." Leonard responded "Who hasn't returned their invitation?"

"Your mother, my brother and…"

"Me." Sheldon walked into the room from his bedroom. He was putting on a coat and was walking toward the front door.

"Why haven't you returned it?" Leonard asked.

"I'm still unsure about the plus one." Sheldon explained "Maybe after tonight I'll be sure."

"Why is that?" Penny asked.

"Alex has said she has found a person who'd date me." Sheldon said "I'm going out to meet her. You can drive me there."

Penny spoke up immediately "No Sheldon we are spending the entire evening doing wedding planning so you'll just have to find someone else."

#

"Thank you for driving me to my date." Sheldon said politely. "I would've contacted Howard or Raj but I knew they were at the Grease sing-a-long together."

"Great." Bernadette said in her annoyed voice.

"If you are going to be snappy I'll find someone mentally stable to drive this vehicle." Sheldon said.

"Maybe you should find someone else other than your work assistant to set you up with someone." Bernadette said "I know Penny and I have single friends."

"Alex was peeved and almost contacted human resources but then I paid her extra salary to do it and she was happy." Sheldon said "Money works with girls always."

"Well I wouldn't get your hopes up Sheldon." Bernadette parked outside of the Cheesecake Factory, where Sheldon's date was. "This girl probably won't be the match that Amy was."

"Amy was a match but then you and Penny brainwashed her to become a slut…"

"Language!" Bernadette shrieked "You don't call girls that. Apologise now!"

"Bernadette I don't think…"

"Sheldon!"

"Fine!" Sheldon rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, it is my new ex-boyfriend personality coming through." Sheldon left the car after an angry goodbye from Bernadette and walked into the Cheesecake Factory.

Instantly Sheldon saw the girl that Alex had sent a picture of. He instantly recognised the short blonde hair and walked up to the table.  
"Greetings Vanessa." Sheldon said.

"Hello Dr. Cooper." The girl had an infectious vibe. "Nice to meet you."

"I imagine it is." Sheldon gave a cheeky smile and sat down across from her. The two ordered their meals and Sheldon knew the success of the date would derail if he couldn't work up a conversation between ordering and receiving the food.

"So" Sheldon said and he cleared his throat "Alex explained to me that you were in her physics class once and she hates you because you beat her for the top grade."

"Did Alex really say that?" the girl seem shocked.

"No but I think I could tell from her expressions when she told me about you." Sheldon said "It was either that or she was proud of you."

"Well I must admit I did study extra hard on the final so I could beat Alex." Vanessa smiled.

"Yes." Sheldon said.

"And Alex explained to me that you work as a theoretical physicist at Caltech." Vanessa remembered "That must be fun."

"Oh yes it brings me great joy." Sheldon stated "I often say it is like seeing the universe naked."

"How kinky." The girl said "Must be exhilarating."

"Only if you are a sex-crazed whore." Sheldon said "Are you are sex crazed whore?"

"No!" the girl seemed shocked at this "I've never even…."

"Well than that is something we have in common." Sheldon interrupted "What do you enjoy?"

Vanessa shook off Sheldon's comment from before and had to get her mind back together to answer that question. "I like science in particular physics, I love epic fantasy movies and novels and I have a gift for languages." She told him.

"Really?" Sheldon raised his eyebrow. "You have a gift for languages?"

"Yeah!"

 _"_ Tuletko häihin kanssani?" Sheldon asked in Finnish.

"You want me to go to a wedding?" Vanessa asked in reaction

"Answer in the language!" Sheldon demanded.

Vanessa took a deep sigh. "Haluatko minun mennähäät ? " she made sure to pronnounce it very carefully.

"Yes I do." Sheldon said. "My roomate is getting married to my neighbour and I need a date to the wedding."

"Well we only just met." Vanessa was hesitant.

"To tell the truth my ex-girlfriend is bringing a date so I have no choice." Sheldon explained.

"And you want to win the 'Which ex is doing better after the relationship' contest?" Vanessa asked.

"Exactly."

"In that case I'd love to help you win the breakup." she stated "Just tell me when it is."

"Two weeks time in Las Vegas." Sheldon told her "I hope that doesn't inconvinience you."

"That is perfect." she smiled "I've never been to Vegas."

Sheldon gave a creepy smile. "I wish I could say the same."

#

Sheldon's date occurred on Sunday night and now it was the next day. Raj had walked into the college's library to try and find a book that he suspected would help his current research. He was happy to find Maria standing in front of the astrophysics and astronomy shelf.

"Hello." Raj walked up to her and began looking for the book.

"The book isn't here!" Maria looked panicked. "It is apparently is very helpful for a class but it doesn't seem to be here!"

Raj had found the book he was looking for. "The book I need is here." He said "What book do you need?"

Maria told Raj the book's title and he instantly recognised it. "That book is very popular with students so I made sure to buy my own copy."

"Can I take a look at it?" Maria pleaded.

"I can let you borrow it if you like." Raj suggested. Maria suddenly gave a huge smile.

"Yes!" Maria said.

"Cool." Raj said "It is in my office."

Maria followed Raj to his office and Raj ignored stares from his colleagues. He opened the door and began looking at his bookshelves.

"That is a nice image of the Pluto you have." Maria saw a picture hung up on Raj's office wall.

"That is no ordinary image." Raj explained "Do you see the signature?"

"Oh my god!" Maria was in shock "That is signed my Neil deGrasse Tyson!"

"He came to Caltech for a few days and since I am the big astrophysicist on campus I got to be his guide." Raj boasted "And I saw some of his notes from when denouncing Pluto as a planet."

"You have no idea how JEALOUS I am." Maria said excited.

Raj found the book Maria wanted and handed it to her.

"I've done some highlighting in it and written some scientific notes but you can just ignore that." Raj added.

"Of course." Maria said.

"And…"

"Yes?" Maria immediately responded.

"I mean… do you want to…if you feel comfortable with it…and..."

"Yes?" Maria said again.

"Never mind." Raj stopped himself.

"Are you sure?" Maria asked.

"I just needed someone…" Raj said "To accompany me to Las Vegas."

"Is there some type of astronomical conference?" Maria seemed excited.

"No." Raj said "That is where Penny is getting married."

"Are you asking me as a date to the wedding?" Maria was shocked.

"I wasn't going to force you." Raj said "I just don't have anyone else to ask."

"I'm sorry Dr. Koothrappali." Maria said "We only have a professional relationship."

Suddenly the room went silent as if all the air had been sucked out.

"I understand." Raj sighed.

"Well…" Maria said "I'd better go." And before Raj could say anything she had left.

Raj felt disappointed. All he could think of was that he might have ruined a shot at a relationship with Maria. And not just a romantic relationship but a platonic one too. He could never seem to catch a break.

#

Howard and Bernadette walked into their house after their day at work.

"Come on Bernie!" Howard pleaded.

"I will not remind you again!" Bernadette said "Unless you want your Pokémon cards coming from Leonard and Penny's wedding present budget, you are not buying anymore!"

Stuart walked into the living room with a smile on his face.

"Good evening." He said happily.

"You aren't doing drugs in this house are you?!" Howard asked when he saw this.

"No." Stuart said "The animation job is re-considering me."

"Really?" Bernadette tried to seem shocked.

"Yes." Stuart answered "They are giving me another interview as they've now realised I am a very promising candidate."

"Good for you." Howard said. "When is your interview?"

"In two days time." Stuart said "Which means I need to get my only suit ready for Wednesday. That means I need to get it washed and ironed…" He looked straight at Bernadette who rolled her eyes.

"Alright I'll do it for you." Bernadette huffed "I'll wash it tonight and have it ironed for you tomorrow."

"Thankyou." Stuart said.

"And don't forget the best outfit is confidence." Howard said "So remember to wash that too."

"I will." Stuart said.

"Who told you that the best outfit is confidence?" Bernadette asked Howard.

"I think it was Raj." Howard thought to himself "But I wouldn't listen to him about confidence. Do you know how many girls he has scared off?"

 **I used Google Translate to translate the Finnish so if it is wrong than it is Google's fault and not mine. Thank you once again for reading. Please favourite, follow and review if you liked. Thanks** bamadude, SRAM **and** michiamoverano **for reviewing since I last posted. It feels great to have loyal followers who read every chapter. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye.**


	16. Chapter 16

_9 Days before the Wedding_

Raj felt awful for how he made things awkward with Maria. He thought that he should have just not said anything about the wedding and tried to find someone else. For the next few days he saw Maria several times, due to them being at the same university, and Raj was always overcome by a rush of anxiety whenever he saw her. He had to do something like turn the other away or pretend to be talking on his mobile phone. One time he even saw Maria walking in his direction and ducked into a 'classroom' that turned out to be the ladies room. Luckily that wasn't where Maria was walking to but he did get an awkward glance from Amy who using the bathroom at the time.

But the one place that Raj thought was awkward free was his own office as he didn't think Maria would ever go near it again. However he was wrong as he suddenly felt a shock of fear when he saw a female silhouette of about Maria's body shape knock on the door.

"I'm busy!" Raj shouted "Come back later!"

"I came return the book you gave me." He heard Maria's voice explain "Just let me give it to you and I can go!"

"Fine but be quick." Raj accepted. Maria opened the door and she walked in. "Where is the book?" Raj asked.

"That was a lie." Maria said "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Did you report me to human resources?" Raj panicked, remembering terrible previous encounters with 'brown sugar'.

"No of course not." Maria said and Raj felt relief "I just want to talk about the other day."

"I'm sorry I asked you on a date to the wedding." Raj said immediately. "It was completely inappropriate of me."

"I should be the one apologising." Maria said back "I shouldn't have been so mean. I did want just a work relationship but I shouldn't have been so repulsive about you asking me to the wedding."

"I completely understand Maria. I should've thought it through before asking though." Raj said.

"It looks like we both have something to apologise for." Maria gave a smile "I think we should no longer avoid each other."

"I agree." Raj said.

"That is good." Maria said "Because…" She stopped and thought for a second.

"Yes?" Raj asked.

"I think I need help for the final part of my project." Maria said quickly.

"I can help you with that." Raj told him.

"Ok, I'll text you when I need you." She smiled. She said goodbye and left quickly, and as per usual with Maria, before Raj could say anything.

Raj took a breath of relief. He was happy that Maria had been the 'bigger man' and decided to approach him first. Although it also meant that he could no longer attempt to initiate a romantic relationship with Maria. How would he find a date to the wedding?

#

Bernadette was getting ready for a night with Penny and Amy at Penny's apartment. Howard and Stuart were sitting on the couch playing a video game.

"Sheldon is so busy planning to make Amy jealous with Vanessa that he is not fulfilling his best man duties." Howard casually mentioned as he took a shot a Stuart character's head.

"What do you mean?" Stuart asked as his character dodged the shot.

"Well he has not done a single thing to organise a bachelor party." Howard elaborated "He said this when I asked about it during lunch."

"That is unfortunate." Stuart remarked. "Every guy should get a bachelor party."

"That is why I got bachelor party duties officially assigned to me." Howard said proudly.

"What?" Bernadette interrupted.

"When Sheldon was chosen as the best man he made Leonard sign an official form with all the duties listed." Howard explained "At lunch I signed another official form for Sheldon saying that the Bachelor Party duties are transferred to me."

"How are you going to have the time to organise one?" Bernadette asked.

"I am planning to have it Vegas because that is already the perfect location." Howard said "It will just have to be a day or so before the wedding…"

Howard was suddenly interrupted by a large buzzing sound coming from Stuart's phone. Stuart attempted to grab it with one hand while still playing the video game. Once he grabbed it the phone stopped ringing and the person's call went to message.

"Good evening Stuart Bloom." A lady's voice said "I would like to talk to you about your interview from Wednesday so please return this call."

Stuart had had his interview the day before and he had no idea how he did in it. He felt like he tried to seem more confident but he didn't know if it came across. Stuart let go of the game controller immediately which allowed Howard to kill his character. He dialled the number and straightaway the same woman answered.

"Hello the animation department of…." The lady began to greet with her credentials.

"It is Stuart Bloom returning your call." Stuart interrupted.

"Hello Stuart." She said "We were very impressed with your boost of confidence in your second interview. We'd like to officially hire you as an employee of our company."

Stuart almost jumped out of his seat but he was afraid he'd drop the phone. "Of course I'll take the job!" he said with an exited tone.

"Of course we can't just fire the other girl we hired so both of you will be sharing the same duties." The girl explained.

"Thanks." Stuart said. "When do you want me to start?"

"Today in Thursday so there is no point starting this late in the week. Instead you can begin work next Monday. I'll see you then." The phone hung up after they said goodbyes. Stuart still had a big smile on his face after the call had finished.

"Congratulations Stuart." Howard and Bernadette said as they were both listening in.

"I'd better get ready for next Monday." Stuart said and he walked enthusiastically back to his room. Howard and Bernadette noted that previously that such happiness wasn't common with Stuart in the past.

#

Penny, Amy and Bernadette were sitting in Penny's apartment and were sharing a bottle of wine and pizza. Penny immediately drank the whole glass she poured for herself immediately.

"Penny you should slow down your drinking." Amy warned.

"I haven't had a good drink for a while." Penny said "The wedding planning has taken up most of my time."

"So I'm guessing you won't have time for a bachelorette party?" Bernadette asked.

"What? No way!" Penny exclaimed "If there is an excuse for a party, we have to have it!"

"Howard is planning a party for Leonard in Vegas before the wedding." Bernadette said "We have to organise one for then to."

"Definitely!" Penny said excited.

Suddenly Amy's phone buzzed and she picked it up to see who it was.

"It is Adam calling." Amy said. "Excuse me." Amy left the room to talk on the phone.

"Amy and Adam are getting serious now." Bernadette noticed.

"Leonard told me that Sheldon found a date!" Penny changed the topic to some gossip she had heard, as it was a girl's night.

"Really?" Bernadette seemed shocked.

"Apparently Sheldon's date agreed to help him best Amy's date." Penny said.

"That isn't fair to Amy." Bernadette said "Amy is just trying to move on from Sheldon and he just…"

"It is Sheldon's way of moving on." Penny explained "He thinks winning against Amy will make him feel better. But I don't think it will. It'll probably just make him worse."

"Do you want to do something about it?" Bernadette asked.

"I would if I had the time but…"

"Adam just wanted to re-check the details about the wedding." Amy told them as she re-entered the room "It seems I have traded one guy with OCD for another." She giggled.

"Amy did you hear that Sheldon has a date for the wedding?" Bernadette asked curiously.

"No I did not." Amy shook her head "Is she good looking?"

"I have no idea." Penny said.

"Well Adam is good looking." Amy thought aloud.

"Amy this isn't a contest." Bernadette reminded.

"Who says it isn't? Clearly I initiated one by dating so soon." Amy said.

"Amy don't make this…" Penny began but a knock on the door interrupted her. She got up and opened the door to see Maria standing in front of her. She looked a lot more anxious than when Penny met her at the wedding cake bakery.

"Hello Maria." She greeted "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Penny." Maria said "I need to talk to you about Raj…"

 **What does Maria need to talk about? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out. Thanks for reading. If you liked please favourite, follow and review. Thankyou** bamadude, aliceindeepdarkwonderland, SRAM, penny fan, michiamoverano, nibbler747 and jbadillodavila **(although I have no idea what 'Genial mnkk' means) for reviewing. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	17. Chapter 17

_9 Days before the Wedding_

"Amy don't make this…" Penny began but a knock on the door interrupted her. She got up and opened the door to see Maria standing in front of her. She looked a lot more anxious than when Penny met her at the wedding cake bakery.

"Hello Maria." She greeted "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Penny." Maria said "I need to talk to you about Raj…"

"Hello Maria!" Amy and Bernadette said to greet Maria.

"OMG!" Maria exclaimed "I didn't realise you had company!"

"We can leave if you want." Bernadette suggested.

"No, you might as well help as well." Maria walked into the room and sat on the couch next to Amy.

"That is where I was sitting." Penny told Maria.

"Are you Sheldon now?" Amy asked with derision.

"Sorry." Penny said as she found another seat "I guess his habits have rubbed off on me a little."

"I can't say the same for me." Amy stated.

"Actually I've seen you do many things like Sheldon." Bernadette said in response.

"Excuse me…." Maria interrupted "I'm sorry to intrude but can I please discuss what I came to talk about?"

"Yes, please tell us why you are here." Penny said.

"Well I want to talk about Raj." Maria detailed again "You've probably heard about when Raj asked me to the wedding and I cruelly refused and made things awkward between us."

"Yes Raj cried about it … I mean told us about it." Bernadette told Maria.

"Well this morning we apologised to each other but I still made it abundantly clear that I didn't want to date him." Maria explained.

"Then what is the problem?" Amy asked in confusion.

"Well that was a lie." Maria said. Penny's mouth opened in shock.

"So you want to go on a date with Raj?" Penny asked.

"Maybe…Yes…No…Yes." Maria kept stuttering through those three options. "I mean, I do have some feelings for Raj and I want to go out with him, but I can't."

"Why?" the three asked in unison.

"He is a professor at college and I am getting my PHD, so I am worried that people will think I am using him." Maria explained "I've heard rumours that people think I had sex with him to get good grades. I don't want this to affect me getting my PHD or even a job. I've just worked so hard."

"That is awful." Bernadette comforted "Who would start a rumour like that?"

"Some guy named Barry Kripke." she explained "One of my friends told me she heard from some guy who heard from some other guy who heard from his girlfriend who was told by her best friend by her professor who was told by Barry Kripke."

"I hate that guy." Penny remarked. "He always hits on me even though I am engaged to Leonard."

"He seemed nice when I helped him with his paper." Amy thought aloud. "But that may have just been him trying to get into my pants."

"What do you think I should do about this?" Maria asked. "I don't want my entire life to be affected by my feelings for Raj."

"Do you really like Raj?" Penny asked.

"Yeah." Maria said "I swear I'm not using him for good grades and I would never do that. My professor said Raj was an expert on my project AFTER I first met Raj at that cafe."

"Then I say you should give it a shot." Penny said.

"Really?" Maria asked.

"Yeah." Bernadette and Amy also agreed.

"Thanks. I hope this all goes well." Maria gave a smile. "I should go. I need to get some work done."

And she left before the three of them could say goodbye. From what Raj had told them all, this was not a surprise.

"I'm gonna kill Kripke." Penny said angrily.

"You need to plan your wedding." Amy said "Instead I will kill him for you at work tomorrow."

#

 _8 Days before the Wedding_

The four guys were sitting at a cafeteria table during their lunch break and Howard was discussing the bachelor party.

"I've found a great group of strippers for you." Howard said to Leonard.

"I thought you weren't into strippers anymore?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah but for my friend I'll hire them." Howard said.

"I don't know what Penny will think about strippers." Leonard thought aloud.

"Do you seriously think she'll be worried?" Raj asked rhetorically "The last time you went to a bachelor party with strippers you ended up helping one of stripper's children with their homework."

"The child was bright, I had to help him reach his potential." Leonard defended.

"Oh that does remind me of me." Sheldon said to himself "Bright kid with unfortunate parentage."

"You love your mother." Leonard rebutted.

"I do." Sheldon gave a smile like his previous comment wasn't said.

There was a short amount of silence whilst a random colleague walked past with an empty tray and looked directly at Raj.

"Good job!" the random said and he winked. The guy walked away from them and out of the cafeteria.

"That was weird." Raj thought to himself.

"I think he mistook you for me." Sheldon snickered "Who else would do a 'good job' at this table?"

"I do think he was talking about Raj." Howard rolled his eyes. "And I think it may have been about the rumour."

"What rumour?" Leonard and Raj asked simultaneously.

"I heard this morning that Raj had sex with Maria." Howard explained.

"What?!" Raj almost screeched. "I couldn't even get her to go on a date with me let alone have sex with her!"

"That is what I thought but apparently the rumour has been going around for several days!" Howard explained.

"That does explain why people were looking at us when she followed me to my office to borrow my book." Raj thought aloud. "This is awful. Does Maria know?"

"She might." Leonard said "We aren't friends with her or anything so we haven't talked to her."

"Must have been Vanessa." Sheldon interrupted. "Last night I posted a cute couple photo of us and he was congratulating me for getting a girlfriend so quickly after Amy."

"Sheldon, we moved on and agreed it was about Raj." Howard told him.

"Well, since you asked, Vanessa and I are really happy." Sheldon said.

"We didn't ask Sheldon." Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Well you should have." Sheldon said. He gave a smile. He hoped that him being happy with Vanessa would get back to Amy through the 'rumour mill'. He knew he didn't ask.

#

Amy walked towards Kripke's office and was ready to tell him off for what he did. Amy wanted Raj, and Maria now, to be happy and what Kripke spread may have prevented that. She would've barged in to his office angrily but the door was already open and two people were already arguing.

"I assure you my research is more significant to science, and therefore I should get more of the physics department's research money!" Amy heard the familiar lisp of Barry Kripke. She walked into the room and saw the other person.

"Excuse me, I have been winning award after award for my paper with Dr. Hoftstader, so I do believe my research is more relevant and that I should get more money!." Sheldon argued. The two of them at that moment saw Amy in the doorway. Amy now couldn't leave without it being awkward.

"I'm here to see Barry about some rumours." Amy said "I am really ANGRY at him for spreading the rumour about Raj and Maria."

"I saw them together at a café, I just knew the next step was sex!" Barry said.

"No that was when they first met and they didn't even kiss. Raj and Maria aren't even dating at this moment." Amy explained.

Sheldon saw this as an opportunity to boast. His reliance on the 'rumour mill' had to wait. "Talking about dating." He began to say "Vanessa and I are really happy and are going to the wedding. We might even share a room."

"Sheldon not now!" Amy reprimanded "I came here to make sure Kripke never does this again."

"Vanessa is really pretty and I just love looking into her eyes." Sheldon ignored her. "Kind of reminds me of when we were dating."

"Well since you bought it up." Amy began to retaliate "Adam and I are also really happy. His eyes are like sparkling diamonds!"

"You mean they can blind you if you look at them in the sun." Sheldon laughed "At least I can look at my romantic partner."

"At least I am having sex now!" Amy lied in rebuttal.

"What?" Kripke blurted out.

"You had coitus with Adam?" Sheldon asked with a slight twinge of hurt in his voice.

"Yeah…" Amy continued the lie "It was passionate and everything I expected…"

"Well…" Sheldon's face began to twitch like he was about to tell a lie. "Well… at least… at least…"

"I am not going to believe it if you say you had sex." Amy raised an eyebrow.

"At least she respects me enough, not to badger me about sex every second of our dates!" Sheldon said angrily.

"Well Adam respects me enough to at least try and understand how I feel about sex!" Amy rebutted.

The two glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Do you want me to leave?" Kripke questioned "I feel like there is a thing happening here."

"No I can leave." Amy said "I realise now that yelling at either one of you will do nothing about either situation." Amy stormed out of the room. She couldn't believe she just lied and said she had sex with Adam. What about Sheldon made her do crazy things like that?

#

"I'll still be attending the wedding." Stuart explained over the phone to Penny "But I'll have to get there on Friday night instead of Thursday."

Stuart didn't want to blow his chances at his new job. He knew taking two days off in his first week wouldn't be good so he decided to choose his life over the wedding.

"That is ok." Penny said "Most people are coming on Friday night or even Saturday morning. We are just happy you got the job."

The actual wedding was occurring on a Saturday whilst the entire gang and their plus ones where intending to go to Vegas on Thursday morning so they'd have plenty of time to prepare at the actual location, and have a bachelor and bachelorette party in the most famous party city in the country.

Penny said goodbye and hung up.

"Stuart isn't coming to the pre-wedding, so that is just Howard and Bernadette, Raj, Amy and Adam and Sheldon and Vanessa going to the pre-wedding." Penny explained to Leonard.

"It is disappointing he won't be at the bachelor party." Leonard said "But at least he now has job. Do you think he will move out of Howard and Bernadette's house?"

"We'll have to wait and see." Penny said. "I know Bernadette is certainly hoping so."

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. I know it seems like a lot of filler right now but next chapter will be Maria confronting Raj with the girl's advice and that will be very exciting. I also wrote the top scene at the same time as last chapter but I cut it in half as a cliff-hanger. If you liked this chapter please favourite, follow and review. Thankyou** Tomasina, bamadude, SRAM, michiamoverano and aliceindeepdarkwonderland **for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you again.**

 **ClintEye**


	18. Chapter 18

_7 Days before the Wedding_

It was now Saturday and Raj did not have to work. He expected to sleep in and mope around the house all day long, since everyone else was busy with someone else. However, much to his surprise, someone knocked on his door at 9am when he was still in bed and he had to answer the door in his pyjamas. When he opened the door he saw Maria standing in front of him, dressed for the day and looking a lot more awake than Raj did.

"I see you are not a morning person." Maria said when she saw this.

"I was planning to relax today." Raj explained "And how did you find out where I live?"

"I asked Penny." Maria told him.

"She does have a tendency for telling people stuff." Raj thought aloud "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure." Maria said with a smile. Raj gestured into the house and Maria walked in.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No, I had breakfast before coming here." Maria stated.

"Cool." Raj said "Do you need help with your project?"

"No I just wanted to talk about the wedding." Maria explained "When you asked and I…."

"I thought I already apologised about that." Raj interjected.

"Well, I've only been to Vegas once and I spent the entire time studying for finals. My old friend got married and she went to a party school so she didn't have finals like me…" Maria began to ramble before Raj interrupted.

"Are you saying you want to accompany me to Vegas?" Raj asked.

"I'm going to hand in my project on Monday and I freed my work schedule for the week so I could go to Vegas and actually relax for once." Maria told Raj.

"I am confused." Raj said "I thought you didn't want to date me."

"I'm sure you've heard the rumour about us… you know…. doing it." Maria stumbled on those words.

"My friend, Howard, told me." Raj said "I told everyone immediately that it was false."

"When you asked me to Vegas I was worried people would think I was using you to get good grades and that if that went too far I might not be able to get my PHD." She explained. "Well I've decided that I should just Shake It Off like Taylor Swift and risk it."

"What changed your mind?" Raj asked.

"I talked to Penny, Bernadette and Amy about it and they said that if I truly cared about you then I should do it." She explained to Raj.

"I love those girls" Raj said to himself when he heard this. He felt true friendship that they'd helped. "So you want to go to the wedding as my date?"

"Yeah I'd like to trial this." She said "But I have to make several things abundantly clear."

"Ok." Raj wondered what Maria was going to say.

"We must not share a bedroom and you must not try and… do it… with me." She said "No point making the rumours true."

"Ok."

"And to make it clear we aren't in a relationship." Maria stated "I just want to see how things go with this. No point making it official for no reason."

"To be honest that is exactly what I was expecting." Raj stated. "'No-sex and no-relationship' is my life motto." Raj gave an awkward laugh.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Maria supported "You are a great catch. I wouldn't do what I am doing for some sucky guy." Maria smiled.

"You give me too much credit." Raj said "I only kept my last girlfriend because she had me wrapped around her finger. She used to make me watch disgusting horror movies and made me have sex in a graveyard."

"You had sex in a graveyard?" Maria looked disgusted.

"You should leave before I say something else that will make you change your mind." Raj said awkwardly. "Unless you want to stay, or go out to eat or…"

"No." Maria interrupted "I should go because I need to finish my project before the wedding." Maria left quickly before Raj could say goodbye.

Raj smiled. This wasn't a relationship or anything but at least it was a chance. He just hoped no more rumours turned up to scare her off.

#

Leonard had a large list in front of him with a variety of ticks next to most of the items. Penny had just gotten off the phone with Raj who told her that Maria was going to be his plus-one.

"I am so happy for Raj." Penny smiled "He finally managed to get someone for the wedding. And Maria is so much nicer then Emily was."

"Well with that, my mum finding nothing better to do and your brother getting out of rehab successfully that means all the attendance is complete." Leonard smiled as he ticked another item on the list.

"We are doing so well." Penny smiled "We have managed to organise this entire fancy wedding in such a small time."

"I can still hear you when I am in my room." Sheldon just walked out his room and had an angry expression on his face "Please don't talk about wedding plans when I didn't ask."

"We have to talk about it as the wedding is next week!" Penny insisted "We can't just shut up whenever you 'might be' listening."

"Well that is disrespectful." Sheldon said "It seems all the females I know are like that."

"I am not disrespectful!" Penny insisted.

"What do you mean 'all the females' you know?" Leonard queried. "Are you talking about Amy? May I remind you, you are the one dating someone to try and best her."

"She has had coitus with her new boyfriend." Sheldon elaborated. Both Penny and Leonard looked like they were in shock.

"Amy didn't tell me this…" Penny stuttered "Are you sure that is true?"

"She told me yesterday." Sheldon said "I can't believe she had coitus so quickly. I knew she was a sex-freak and it was just me who was maintaining her innocence, but still."

"Do you think she may have just said that to make you jealous?" Penny said.

"Why would I be jealous? I have Vanessa and we are very happy." Sheldon insisted.

"How do we know?" Penny asked "We have never even seen you with her."

"You will when we go to the wedding and you will see how cute we are together." Sheldon insisted. "And I assure you we are way better than Amy and the man-whore."

"What?" Penny and Leonard said together.

"I mean Adam obviously." Sheldon said "It has come to my attention that harsh nicknames for exes and their new partner is something people do."

"Well don't." Leonard said "Adam and Amy will be at the wedding and I don't want any fights."

"Well don't count on it." Sheldon said. "I've got to go and have another cute date with Vanessa so goodbye." Sheldon left the apartment quickly before he could hear anymore wedding talk.

"This is going to be a disaster." Penny worried "This fighting will ruin everything."

"Don't worry honey." Leonard comforted "We just need to both take care of Amy and Sheldon."

#

 _6 Days before the Wedding_

For the first time since the Shamy break-up the entire group of Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Amy, Howard, Bernadette, Raj and Stuart were all at the same place, Apartment 4a. It was like the olden days when they used to sit around and chat and have dinner together, except for a layer of awkwardness. When Leonard and Penny broke up they maintained a friendship which allowed the group to still be together but it was evident that wasn't the case with Sheldon and Amy. Everyone was eating dinner but no one was speaking. Penny thought someone needed to speak up.

"We should congratulate Stuart." She said to stop the silence "For his new job, which he starts tomorrow.

"Congratulations Stuart." Amy said "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"I ironed my…" Stuart began but Bernadette gave him a glare "I mean Bernadette helped me iron my clothes so I am all ready."

"I hope you do well in your job." Amy said.

"Then you can rent the apartment upstairs like you wanted." Howard said "I believe it is still available."

"Yes no one has moved in yet." Sheldon agreed "I still believe Alicia brings some of her boyfriends there to have coitus." Sheldon looked at Amy when he said this and Howard, Raj, Bernadette and Stuart were confused by this.

The group fell in silence again which Penny noted, disappointed that this happened again, and had to bring up something else.

"So, how are you and Maria?" Penny asked Raj.

"Nothing has changed since yesterday." Raj stated. Penny should have guessed this.

"What happened yesterday?" Howard asked.

"Maria agreed to be my date to the wedding." Raj stated.

"Congratulations!" Bernadette exclaimed.

"That is really great Raj!" Howard agreed "We knew you'd find somebody."

"Don't get too excited yet." Raj said "She made it very clear that she was trialling things and that we weren't in any type of romantic relationship."

"Girls are awful aren't they?" Sheldon asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean Sheldon?" Raj seemed offended. "Maria isn't awful. She is just being careful."

"Well one minute they are all nice and then they go and have sex with some new guy" Sheldon said.

"You aren't talking about Maria are you?" Bernadette asked. Sheldon shook his head to represent a 'no' and the whole group turned to Amy. Amy did not feel comfortable saying anything outside of a nervous stutter so she kept her mouth shut.

"Amy?" Penny asked.

"What?" Amy managed to say.

"Do you know what Sheldon meant?" Penny questioned.

"I don't think I need to discuss it." Amy said.

"Amy can you please come with me?" Penny asked. Amy nodded although she was confused at what Penny wanted. She followed Penny who went all the way to her apartment and shut the door so no one could hear them.

"You lied and told Sheldon that you had sex!" Penny said angrily "Why did you do that?"

"Umm…" Amy felt embarrassed "What makes you think we didn't haven't had sex?"

"Because if you had, you would have texted me all the details as it happened!" Penny said "And I know you aren't the type of person to do that, this early in the relationship. At the beginning of your old relationship you didn't want to have sex with Sheldon…"

"Ok." Amy interrupted "I did not have sex with Adam but Sheldon was being all 'look at how good my relationship is' so I just wanted to 'best' him."

"That is exactly what he is doing!" Penny said. "You are stooping down to his level."

"I didn't mean it to get out of hand, it just seemed right at the time." Amy explained.

"Well don't do it again!" Penny said "I don't want my wedding to be a fiasco."

"I am sorry Penny." Amy apologised.

"No more trying to best him, ok." Penny said "I'll let this 'you had sex' thing slide, but no more!"

"Ok I promise Penny." Amy assured "But you should tell that to Sheldon too. He provoked me by telling me how happy he was with Vanessa."

"Don't worry Leonard will do that." Penny said.

The two of them went back to the group and sat down.

"So what was that about?" Raj asked.

"Don't worry sweety." Penny said "Just girl talk."

"So insignificant nonsense." Sheldon said and this earnt glares from all three girls from the room. "At least Vanessa doesn't talk nonsense."

"At least Adam has a testosterone level." Amy rebutted.

"Amy!" Penny exclaimed and Amy immediately looked down in embarrassment. It was going to be a long few days as the wedding approached.

 **Thanks for reading. So Maria begins a trial date with Raj at the wedding. Will it work or will one of them make it fail? And Amy and Sheldon still are at each other's throats days before the wedding and Penny needs to fix that but will that be possible considering how stubborn they are? And Stuart begins his job in the next chapter. Will it work out for him? Thanks and if you liked please favourite, follow and review. Thankyou** bamadude, michiamoverano, aliceindeepdarkwonderland and SRAM **for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you all again.**

 **ClintEye**


	19. Chapter 19

_5 Days before the Wedding_

Stuart walked up to the front of the building where his new work place was. He was in a suit with a tie and he felt really nervous. He had to take some anxiety medication that morning so he wouldn't have a spontaneous panic attack but that didn't help as much as he hoped. He took a deep breath and walked into the building. He took the lift to the third floor. When he walked out the lift he saw a female employee walking around the office, who turned and looked in his direction.

"Oh, hello Stuart" she smiled at him "Nice to have you on board our team." Stuart recognised her as Linda Wade, the woman who interviewed him.

"Really?" Stuart asked. "My therapist said otherwise."

"What?" Linda questioned.

"Never mind." Stuart said back "What am I going to do today?"

"Today should be easy for you. You and the other employee I hired will be getting a tour of the place and you'll meet the other members of the department." She smiled at him. "You should take a seat while we wait for her. Just tell me if you see her arrive. I need to go to my office and approve something."

Stuart sat down in a seat. He looked at his old flip-phone and saw the time had been ticking away and soon five minutes of waiting turned into ten. Then it turned into twenty. Linda walked out of her office again and saw Stuart still waiting.

"Hasn't she arrived yet?" she asked. "She was meant to be here 15 minutes ago." Suddenly the lift doors opened and a woman in a tight dress and sunglasses walked through the elevator doors.

"Is that her?" Stuart asked.

"Yep that is who the board decided to hire." Linda said with a twinge of disappointment but she covered it up with a smile. "Good morning."

"Debra Washington." The woman introduced herself to Stuart "I'm sure you've heard of me. Miss Junior Quiz-Nos California 1999 and Summa Cum Laude from Boston Art College."

"This is Stuart." Linda introduced "He studied at Rhode Island School of Design."

"Is that it?" Debra took of her sunglasses and looked straight at Stuart. He nodded. "A bit disappointing."

"Yes but at least he was on time." Linda rebutted.

"What?" Debra said in an aggravated tone.

"Well… I should show you around. You two will working together on background art for our new TV show but today I just want you to get familiar with the place." Linda smiled at the two of them.

"Ok." Stuart said "What is this TV show?"

Linda explained the idea of the show and Stuart was excited by the idea. It was about a group of teenagers who had special powers ad were taken away from their families to a secluded camp.

"So it is like X-Men for kids?" Stuart asked.

"Isn't X-Men already for kids?" Debra laughed. Stuart gave her a side glare.

"I assure you it is different than X-Men. We checked with Marvel's legal department to make sure of this." Linda explained.

Stuart found himself very excited by this. He hoped if he did well with this that he could move up and become a character artist or even an animation director. He couldn't wait to start preliminary background designs the next day.

#

"Why did we have to go out at night time Leonard?" Sheldon asked.

"You kept bugging me about buying fresh medication for the trip to Vegas and I don't have time during the day because of work and the wedding planning." Leonard explained. The two of them were shopping at a pharmacy. "You should be more excited about this. I thought you liked going to the drug store?"

"The risk of someone attacking me in the middle of the night takes all the fun out of it" Sheldon said back. Leonard rolled his eyes. Leonard noticed someone in the aisle ahead of them.

"Look, it is Amy." Leonard pointed out.

"What? Where?" Sheldon suddenly panicked. "Is she having a public coitus?"

"What? No!" Leonard said in shock. "She is buying some medication like you are. Do you want to say hi?"

"No." Sheldon shook his head.

"Oh hey, Leonard." Amy saw him. "….. And Sheldon." She instantly regretted greeting them.

"What do you want? Are you here buying contraceptives?" Sheldon mocked.

"Can you please stop talking about my sex life Sheldon?" Amy requested. "And for your information I was buying constipation medication. Travel makes me constipated."

"I actually understand the burden. My thing though is doing the business on an unfamiliar toilet." Sheldon concurred. Amy was shocked at this sudden turn to an actual conversation.

"I remember when we went to Indiana for that science conference and you did not poop for four days." Amy laughed "I forced you to take my medication"

"I know that was painful and uncomfortable." Sheldon cringed a little "But I'm hoping that this trip to Vegas won't be much of a hassle. I'm intending on buying cleaning materials when we get there."

"You are not doing that." Leonard interrupted.

"Indeed I am." Sheldon said.

"I know a good cleanliness shop nearby our hotel." Amy suggested "If you want I can show you it when we get there."

"That'd be very helpful." Sheldon said.

"I went there last time and the disinfectant smell of the shop smelt like you." Amy continued "Reminded me of you and how happy I am to be in a relationship with you."

"I think you were meant to use past tense there." Sheldon corrected.

"What?" Amy questioned.

"Since we are in a breakup." Sheldon said.

"Oh…" Amy said. She faked looking at her phone. "I need to go. It was great seeing you Leonard." And she walked off.

"Why can't you two just get back together?" Leonard said. "I mean, that was so adorable."

"Because Vanessa and I are stronger than ever." Sheldon responded "And she fornicates like a mating monkey."

"That is not imagery I needed right now." Leonard cringed a little.

#

Penny was sitting at home watching re-runs of America's Next Top Model. She was furious that they eliminated Analeigh before the final runway show and she felt like throwing her wine glass at the Tyra Bank's face. She heard her phone ringing, saw it was Amy and picked it up.

"Hello." Penny greeted.

"You never said Leonard was going out with Sheldon tonight." Amy stated.

"Well it was kind of spontaneous." Penny responded "Sheldon kept annoying us about going to the drug store before the wedding and we didn't want to become murderers."

"Well guess where I was getting my constipation medication." Amy said.

"Did you run into them?" Penny asked. Amy didn't respond. "Are you still there Amy?" She heard some muffled tears from the other end of the phone. "Amy, are you crying?" she asked sincerely.

"I didn't go out tonight just to buy medication." Amy began to explain in between crying noises "I also went out on a date with Adam."

"I don't understand…"

"Adam came to the date and we had so much fun!" Amy continued to cry "But then I bumped into Sheldon afterwards and I felt something special. I completely forgot about Adam and thought I was still with Sheldon. I sometimes wish I still was."

"I'm so sorry Amy." Penny consoled. "But you can't expect to have the same connection with Adam already."

"I just feel so stupid right now. How could I boast about having sex with him! Now all Sheldon sees is a demonic sex weasel when he looks at me." She continued

"I assure you he doesn't just see that." Penny said.

"When I ran into him we got talking and it was so normal that I forgot everything that had occured. But now he has Vanessa and I'll never have the same connection with Adam. In the end Adam will dump me for being hung up on Sheldon and I'll just be lonely like before" Amy cried.

"You won't be lonely. You'll still have me and the rest of the gang." Penny comforted.

"I wish I could believe you." Amy said. Suddenly the phone went silent as Amy hung up. Penny was shocked at all this. Would all this crying and relationship drama crossover to the wedding? She had nightmares where the wedding was a complete catastrophe because Sheldon and Amy got in a fistfight. She needed to make sure her friend would be fine but with everything else going on in Vegas she might not be able to help as much as she'd hoped. Penny picked up the phone and called Bernadette.

"Bernadette, it is Penny. I need your help with the Shamy…"

 **Thanks for reading and sorry for the wait. Next chapter will be the last one before they all go to Vegas. If you liked this please Favourite, Follow and Review. Thank you** bamadude, SRAM, michiamoverano **and** aliceindeepdarkwonderland **for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you again.**

 **ClintEye**


	20. Chapter 20

_4 Days Before the Wedding_

"You are going to design the backgrounds of the opening scene. Our main character is at school taking a math class so I don't think this first task will be too hard. Just design a typical classroom" Linda explained the day's tasks to Stuart and Debra "After that there will be a beach scene in a flashback so if you finish that you can start designing those." Linda smiled at the two of them and then left the room. Stuart and Debra were now sharing their joint office.

"Do you have any ideas?" Stuart asked "I remember the classrooms from my childhood so I feel like I should be inspired by that."

"Aren't you a little old to remember your school days?" Debra asked condescendingly.

"Weren't you the Quiznos winner in 1999?" Stuart argued back "You can't be that young."

"I was the junior Quiznos winner. I was seven." Debra argued.

"Well…um…we should get some sketches done." Stuart changed the topic nervously.

"You can do that. I'm going to go to the Starbucks across the street." Debra said as she got up and walked towards the door.

"What….?" Stuart stuttered.

"I can't concentrate on your silly ideas if I don't have more caffeine." She walked out the door and towards the elevator. Stuart rolled his eyes at this and began drawing the background.

#

An hour later Debra walked back into the office and sat at her desk. Stuart didn't say anything as he didn't want to start an argument. He instead put the finishing touches to the first background.

"Wow that sucks." Debra said when she looked at Stuart's work.

"What?" Stuart questioned in confusion.

"Did you go to art school or was that made up?" Debra continued.

"Well at least I've done something …" Stuart knew an argument was coming. However he had to stop as Linda walked into the office.

"How are the backgrounds coming?" she asked the two of them. She looked at what Stuart was drawing. "Wow that looks amazing." Stuart could not see any hint of sarcasm or lying so he smiled.

"Really?" Stuart asked.

"Yeah I love the simple but structured design of the class. You really took the location description in the script to heart." Linda complimented.

Stuart was about to explain how he based it off a classroom in his childhood which was old and less showy then other classrooms at his school. He would have told the story about taking a History class in that room and how a bully stabbed him with a pencil while the teacher wasn't looking and made him bleed. But Debra interrupted.

"Yes the two of us thought you would enjoy this." Debra lied. "I based it off an old classroom of mine."

"So great to see you working as a team." Linda said happily. "Keep up the good work." Linda smiled once again and left the room.

"What was that?" Stuart asked with an angry tone once Linda left.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Debra fibbed.

"I did all this work while you stepped out for coffee and you credited it as your own." Stuart continued.

"I helped."

"What? No you didn't." Stuart said.

"I'm going to my desk now so we/you can keep working." Debra gave a menacing smile.

Stuart felt like shouting at her but knew that would not be appropriate for the work place. He instead turned around and began drawing the next background.

#

 _3 Days Before the Wedding_

"Thank you everyone for coming." Sheldon smiled to the group. There were five couples in Leonard's apartment. Leonard and Penny, Raj and Maria, Howard and Bernadette, Amy and Adam and Vanessa all sat in front of Sheldon and his smartboard.

"Can we please just hurry this up?" Leonard asked annoyed.

"That's what she said." Howard smiled as he said this. Maria and Raj laughed with each other.

"Howard we need to focus on the orientation for our Vegas trip not on whatever that was." Sheldon reminded.

"Our flight leaves in the morning. If we stay up too late tonight we'll be really tired." Adam added. Sheldon gave him a confused look.

"Well let's start with seating on the plane. Because we are checking in now we get to choose our seats." Sheldon said. "What should the seating be?"

"We should just sit in couples." Bernadette suggested. Sheldon opened a picture of the available seats on the plane.

"But where Bernadette?" Sheldon asked "That is possible but each couple won't be near another."

"Maybe that isn't a bad thing." Amy said and she turned and looked straight at Vanessa who had a big smile on her face. Amy was sure she was some sort of lunatic.

"There is an entire row available." Raj pointed at the picture of the available seats  
"Each row has nine seats and there is ten of us. Does anyone want to volunteer to sit by themselves?" Sheldon asked. No one said anything and Sheldon gave a smug smile.

"Well I'm not sitting away from my bride-to-be on the way to the wedding location." Leonard demanded.

"Leonard makes a good point. We should give you and Penny the two seats on the window at the right." Sheldon said. "I just had a thought!" He paused for dramatic flair.

"Just say it Sheldon!" Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Howard and Bernadette can sit next to Leonard and Penny, Vanessa and I can sit next to them, Raj and Maria can be in the column next us and Amy can sit next to them and the window." Sheldon explained whilst pointing appropriately at the diagram.

"What about Adam?" Amy asked.

"Adam can sit in the back row." Sheldon said.

"But that would be five rows behind us!" Amy was shocked.

"Raj and I aren't actually a couple and this trip is just a trial for us." Maria interrupted. "Maybe it'd be best if Raj and I were the ones who were separated."

"No, no, no!" Sheldon shook his head. "Adam can be by himself!"

"Maria makes a good point. Surely you'd understand not wanting to smother someone you aren't really in a relationship with." Raj agreed.

"It is too late." Sheldon said "Adam is going to be booked in the back row."

"Sheldon!" Penny exclaimed suddenly and the entire group quickly turned towards her.

"What is it Penny?" Sheldon asked.

"Can you please have better behaviour?" Penny asked "In fact follow me to my apartment, I have something to say to you."

"Penny we don't have the time. We still have to organise our meals for when we aren't at the wedding and…" Sheldon began but Bernadette interrupted.

"Sheldon I am going to count to three." Bernadette said forcefully as she stood up.

"Bernadette I don't think…"

"ONE!" Bernadette counted.

"Alright I'll do it!" Sheldon said. Penny and Bernadette walked out of the apartment and Sheldon followed.

#

Sheldon sat down on Penny's couch but Bernadette and Penny stood above him with angry expressions on their faces.

"Sheldon you need to stop this." Penny said sternly.

"I don't understand what you mean." Sheldon gave a confused expression.

"You keep ostracising Adam and can offends Amy." Bernadette explained.

"I just feel like him sitting by himself is the most logical solution." Sheldon rebutted.

"Bull...um…S-word." Penny quickly retracted swearing in front of Sheldon. "Sheldon you have to stop trying to best Amy. Can't you just try and be friends with her?"

"But we are exes Penny." Sheldon said "Even you have to agree that is illogical."

"You will disrupt the wedding Sheldon!" Penny rebutted. "Leonard and I are working really hard and we want this weekend to be special. As our friend there is surely some type of 'social convention' to stop this foolishness."

"There probably is but Amy…" Sheldon began to argue.

"SHELDON!" Bernadette became angry "DO YOU WANT ME TO COUNT TO THREE AGAIN?"

"That is juvenile and won't work again." Sheldon said.

"ONE!"

"Bernadette once again that won't work in this situation."

"TWO! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AT THREE?!"

"Alright! I will be nice but only as a favour to Leonard and Penny." Sheldon agreed.

"Good. Now you can return to the orientation." Bernadette calmed down again. Sheldon pouted and left the room.

"Thank you Bernadette. I knew you'd be great help." Penny smiled.

"And I'd be happy to do it again." Bernadette said happily like the Hulk had just became Bruce Banner "Do you know how many times I've wanted to yell at Sheldon but held back?"

"As someone who has known Sheldon for a long time I'd estimate the amount would be approaching infinity." Penny said. She'd heard Leonard say something similar about limits, which she assumed was about her drinking.

#

"So what is the plan on the plane seating?" Leonard asked when Sheldon, Penny and Bernadette returned to Leonard's apartment.

"Well after deliberating with Penny I've decided that Bernadette will be the one separated from us." Sheldon explained.

"What?" Bernadette almost shrieked.

"Just hold the anger back." Penny whispered "At least he has moved on from torturing Amy to torturing you."

"Fine I'll play along…" Bernadette sated "I guess I can sit by myself."

And Sheldon smiled. He wasn't going to let anyone get the best of him.

 **Thank you again for reading. Next chapter they will be finally going to Vegas! I know it has been some time since I first wrote about that so you must all be relieved. What kind of Shenanigans will happen whilst they are there? Also hopefully I will not only move the Shamy plot forward but also the Raj and Maria plot. Thankyou bamadude, SRAM, kimbee73 and michiamoverano for reviews as I really appreciate it. Also if you liked please favourite, follow and review. Thank you again.**

 **ClintEye**


	21. Chapter 21

_2 Days before the wedding_

"Welcome to Las Vegas. We hope you enjoy your stay." The group of ten heard as they walked off the plane and into the airport.

"How was your flight?" Penny asked Bernadette.

"Awful." Bernadette answered honestly "Whilst you sat next to my husband and your husband-to-be, I sat next to some random fat guy who kept stealing my arm rest and a mother with a baby who wouldn't stop screaming."

"At least Sheldon and Amy didn't fight on the plane." Penny said positively.

"Only because Raj and Maria sat between them." Bernadette said.

"Sometimes I wish I barred Sheldon from taking a plus one." Penny admitted "Vanessa just has a weird vibe to her. Like she enjoys trouble."

"Reminds me of Emily a little." Bernadette added.

"Wow I can't believe I am in Vegas." Maria exclaimed really happily and did a twirl on the spot like she didn't care who was watching.

"Why are you so happy?" Raj asked "And don't say because you are no longer sitting next to Sheldon."

"Sheldon is weird but I am used to that." Maria implied at Raj when she said this. Raj gave her a look of derision.

"Ok everyone!" Sheldon said in a loud tone. "As agreed at orientation we are going to take taxis to the hotel."

"Adam and I wanted to explore some of the city first." Amy said.

"Well I am not going to make any comment, in case it is rude." Sheldon said.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked Sheldon.

"I don't believe I need an explanation." Sheldon responded.

"It is probably just something about a social convention." Amy explained "Now let's go!"

#

The now group of eight walked into their hotel.

"This place looks amazing!" Maria had the biggest smile on her face.

"Thank Leonard for getting all that money from his paper!" Penny grinned happily when she said this.

"But you have to remember any room service is on you" Leonard had just returned from getting each person's key. "Now here are the keys to the each of your rooms."

"There are only five keys?" Raj asked in confusion. "Did you not get Amy's yet?"

"I did." Leonard felt confused.

"Well Vanessa and I decided to share a room with two beds so that explains your confusion" Sheldon clarified.

"No, Maria and I were meant to get separate rooms." Raj said.

"I don't remember you ever saying that." Penny looked at Leonard and Raj in confusion.

"I told you Penny when I rung you twenty seconds after Maria told me she was coming!" Raj said loudly "I made it very clear!"

"Oh right." Penny remembered. "I don't think we'll be able to get another room that is free."

"Penny, I can't believe this!" Raj felt angry.

"Don't worry Raj." Maria interrupted "The reason I wanted separate rooms was because I didn't want people talking after the rumour we had sex went around. Despite that I'm sure we can make it work in a shared room."

"Do you really want that rumour to re-circulate?" Raj asked "What about your reputation and PHD?"

"I know Raj but do we have any other choice?" Maria asked "I can't be homeless for a few nights."

"You could always bunk in our room, if you don't mind sleeping on the floor." Bernadette suggested. Howard nodded in agreement.

"Do you really think Maria wants to spend the first time in Vegas on the floor?" Penny asked with concern "That happened when I came here for the first time with Kurt and it was awful."

"Okay, Maria and I can share a room." Raj said. He was worried though. How would sharing a room work with them being so new to relationship?

#

Amy and Adam walked around Vegas for an hour before going to the hotel. Amy really wanted to go to that cleaning shop she went to last time and knew Sheldon would want to as well. Maybe they could try being friends and go together without bickering.

"Can I come with?" Adam followed Amy down the hall to Sheldon's room.

"Do you really want to come with us to a cleaning store?" Amy asked.

"Well I do. I want to make sure…." Adam stopped himself.

"Make sure what?"

"Is it wrong for a guy to be cautious about his girlfriend going around with their ex?" Adam asked rhetorically.

"If you are really that worried you can come but Sheldon will just be mean about you the whole time." Amy warned.

"Not if he follows this social convention you talked about." Adam added. Amy rolled her eyes and knocked on Sheldon's door. The door opened and Vanessa appeared.

"Oh hello." Vanessa gave a creepy smile. "Sheldon is unpacking right now. What do you want?"

"We were going to the cleaning store." Amy said "I believe Sheldon might want to come."

"Oh I've been waiting to go!" they heard Sheldon shout excitedly. He walked to the door and stood behind Vanessa.

"You can't go with them!" Vanessa demanded.

"But I need to disinfect the place!" Sheldon insisted "I inspected the bathroom and saw a stray hair!"

"Fine!" Vanessa said "But I'm coming with."

"What?" Amy and Adam seemed shocked.

"Come on Sheldon. Let's go!" Vanessa grabbed her purse and walked out whilst glaring at Amy. Sheldon followed and gave Amy a short smile which made Amy's heart flutter.

"Not now!" Amy thought to herself "Not whilst Adam is around!"

#

Raj and Maria stood in front of their two separate beds.

"At least we didn't get a room with a single bed." Maria said optimistically.

"I don't want to scare you away." Raj said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked as she sat on her bed.

"When Lucy, one of my exes, broke up with me it was because I scared her away." Raj explained "I don't want the same to happen with you."

"I'm sure that won't happen." Maria gave Raj a smile.

"You don't understand. I do stupid and awkward things that just drive females, and sometimes males, away." Raj elaborated "I'm afraid if we spent a lot of time together, like sharing a hotel room, that will occur."

"Raj you've got to stop thinking so much." Maria said "We have only started our relationship, we don't need to add all this fear."

"I guess you're right." Raj said unconvincingly.

"I have a bet for you." Maria said "If you do scare me away and we don't continue this relationship after the end of this trip I owe you a hundred dollars but if not then you owe me a hundred dollars."

"You want to bet that?" Raj questioned.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Maria said "Adds some humour to the situation!" She put her hand out to shake Raj's hand.

"Alright then." Raj shook Maria's hand. "But you're going down!"

"You want to win?" Maria asked in confusion.

"That is not what I meant!" Raj quickly said "I just want to… you know… and I didn't mean… what you think… even if you, you don't think…."

"Wow you are so adorable." Maria giggled. Raj couldn't help but laugh as well. He really wanted to lose the bet.

#

Amy, Adam, Sheldon and Vanessa all walked into the cleaning store.

"You didn't say this store would be so big!" Sheldon was really happy "This place is awesome!" He started jumping up and down like an excited child.

"Calm down Sheldon." Vanessa exclaimed "Save your energy for the bachelor party tonight!"

"Oh goody, oh goody, oh goody!" Sheldon ignored Vanessa. He suddenly ran off from the other three and into one of the aisles. The three were left standing by themselves.

"Well this is awkward." Vanessa rolled her eyes "I imagined this trip to Vegas would be more devilish."

"I need to go get some special hand sanitiser." Amy said "I'm allergic to most kinds."

"Is this why you've been here before?" Adam asked.

"Yes." Amy said. She once again smelt the disinfectant odour of the shop. "That smells so good." Amy felt suddenly relaxed and comfortable.

"Smells familiar." Adam remarked. "Smells like Sheldon's Apartment."

"Yes." Amy snapped out of it before Adam suspected anything. The three of them walked away and towards the hand sanitiser aisle. Amy looked at the selection until she saw Sheldon skipping happily down the aisle with a basket already half full with bottles and powders.

"Amy! Amy!" he said happily "I found a kitchen spray that they used to sell back in Texas and I haven't seen since! I am writing this place a fan letter when I get home!"

"Good for you." Amy smiled at him.

"Can you believe this array of hand sanitisers?" Sheldon jumped in excitement once again.

"I get it, lots of stuff." Adam said condescendingly.

"Are you being rude?" Sheldon asked "How can you be rude in such a wonderland?"

"I'm sure he was joking." Amy interrupted. "And I found a good hand sanitiser so we can leave."

"No!" Sheldon said like a child. "We need to stay for two more hours!"

"Sheldon if we do that we'll miss the bachelor and bachelorette parties!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Can we get Howard to move the bachelor party here?" Sheldon asked.

"No Sheldon!" Vanessa reprimanded "We need to leave this weird place!"

"Sheldon you have enough stuff so I think it is appropriate for us to leave." Amy said to him calmly.

Sheldon glanced from Vanessa and Amy and back again. "Fine, we can go! But we are definitely coming back here again."

"Sure." Amy smiled.

"Maybe…" Adam said. The four began walking towards the checkouts.

"Why on Earth did you listen to Amy and not me?" Vanessa whispered to Sheldon. "You are meant to be making her jealous."

"I don't know what you mean by 'listening to Amy'." Sheldon said "But I have been straying from our mission." Sheldon saw Amy beginning to turn around towards them and he began kissing Vanessa on the lips.

"Seriously?" Adam asked with condescension. Amy rolled her eyes. She thought for a second she and Sheldon would have had a happy time.

"Sorry." Sheldon said after kissing "I just couldn't control my urges." Amy rolled her eyes again. At least she wouldn't see this kind of thing at the bachelorette party.

#

Stuart was still in California and was currently at work. He was drawing some more backgrounds for the animated TV show whilst Debra 'supervised' and drank coffee. Linda walked into the office and Debra saw this coming so she walked over to Stuart and sat next to him.

"Subtle." Stuart said under his breath.

"How is it all going?" Linda asked "The people doing the character animation adored your math class and beach backgrounds."

"We're glad." Debra said with a fake smile.  
"We are working on the locker scene." Stuart told her.

"Can you explain to me the idea behind this background?" Linda gestured to a locker background.

"Well…this is the scene where the main character is talking to her friend and I needed to draw lots of lockers side by side…so I created a template and…. did it over and over again." Stuart explained with a few nervous stutters "Also… allows it to be even."

"Very clever." Linda complimented "We'll make an animator out of you."

Stuart felt himself blushing at this. "Thanks." He said.

"Do you have anything to add Debra?" Linda asked.

"It was inspired by my old high school lockers." Debra lied.

"Isn't that what you said about the math and beach scenes?" she asked.

"Yeah." Debra nodded.

"How is Stuart able to draw what inspires you?" Linda asked "Are you drawing anything."

"I assure you I am working hard." Debra argued.

"Is she working hard Stuart?" Linda asked. Debra glared straight at him. He felt an immediate amount of pressure.

"I feel like she is working but not as much as I am." Stuart half-lied.

"Debra, I liked how you two were working as a team but I think you should work on some backgrounds by yourself." Linda said "I am delegating the car-park scene to you." Debra had a sudden panicked expression but turned it off soon after.

"Fine." Debra said.

Linda smiled at the two of them and then walked out. Debra said a swear word and turned away from Stuart. Stuart sighed.

#

"Are the plans for the bachelor party ready?" Bernadette asked Howard in their hotel room.

"Yep. Is the bachelorette party ready?" Howard asked.

"Yes." Bernadette smiled "This is going to be fun…"

 **End of chapter! This chapter was so much fun to write. I loved writing Sheldon like a child at Disnelyland when he went into that store and how Amy got Sheldon to listen and not Vanessa. Anyways thanks for reading. Please favourite, follow and review if you liked(or disliked if you want to). Thank you** **bamadude** **,** **kimbee73** **,** **SRAM** **and** **e29t4** **for reviewing and I love all my readers! Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	22. Chapter 22

_2 Nights before the Wedding_

"When I heard you were organising a bachelorette party I expected something a little more risqué." Penny said to Bernadette. Amy, Bernadette, Maria, Penny and Vanessa were all sitting down at a large table in a fancy restaurant. There were other tables as well with people dressed up in fancy suits eating gourmet meals.

"I have to admit I am a little offended." Bernadette exclaimed in an angry tone.

"I promise I didn't mean anything offensive by that!" Penny retracted her comment. "I just wish I'd have worn a more appropriate dress." She looked down at her short black dress which showed a lot of skin.

"I have to agree with Penny." Vanessa concurred "There is absolutely nothing exciting about this place."

"I do like the jazz music they're playing." Amy said "And the pictures of food on the menu looked really delicious. I can't wait to try my meal."

"And also why are all the other dinner guests here male?" Penny asked as She looked around at the other tables in the restaurant. Because of this it reminded her of a high-class version of Stuart's comic book store.

A good looking waiter walked over to the group of five. He carried a tray with some meals on it and he put the plates of food in front of everyone.

"Thankyou." Penny said to the waiter.

"Just wait, you'll be thanking me later." The waiter winked at Penny and walked away. Penny felt confused but she ignored it and began to look at her meal. Yes, this place was nice but was it bachelorette party material? She didn't want to offend Bernadette but she expected drinking and wild antics. She sighed and took a spoonful of the soup she ordered.

The jazz song stopped playing and Penny waited for the next boring instrumental to play. Instead loud club music began playing and she couldn't tell if the singer was Rihanna or not.

"Weird music change." Penny said confusion.

Suddenly the lights in the building started flickering different colours and some of the guests and waiters started dancing. She noticed a few of them started taking their shirts off. She turned to Bernadette who couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"What did you do?" Penny asked.

"Ok I can't hide it anymore." Bernadette said "But you have to admit I totally tricked you! I hired this place to make it look a fancy restaurant and made the strippers pretend to be all proper. And you looked so disappointed!" Bernadette began to laugh at Penny

"Wow! You really did trick me!" Penny smiled despite this. The waiter from before and one of the guests whose suit and tie was now on the floor had started doing a seductive dance in front of the group.

"This is impressive Bernadette." Maria complimented.

"I believe you forgot to tip me before." The waiter began to dance in front of Penny.

"I do have singles I could put down your….. you know…. but I'm engaged and…"

"Seriously Penny? I got Leonards permission and he said as long as you didn't have sex or anything." Bernadette explained.

"Well since the hubby-to-be said so." Penny took a single out of her wallet and put it in the stripper's pants. She also got up and began dancing with them. Bernadette and Maria also got up and joined her. They got some singles out and gave them to the strippers.

"Aren't you going to go and dance?" Vanessa asked Amy.

"I'm not really in the mood." Amy said "But it is sure nice to look at."

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh stop trying to act like you care!" Amy yelled back "I know you'll use whatever I said against me!"

"Well you know me pretty well then." Vanessa said devilishly. "How would you like a drink?"

"I don't want a drink." Amy shook her head.

"Come on, Amy." Penny walked up to the two of them with a half-full glass of alcohol and she took a large swig. "You need to have fun."

"Fine then." Amy trusted Penny "Get me a drink!"

#

"This is exciting." Leonard had a huge smile on his face "I haven't been to a strip club in ages." Adam, Howard, Leonard, Raj and Sheldon all stood in front of strip club with a half-naked girl on the establishment's logo.

"Why Howard? Why?" Sheldon shook his head in disappointment "There are lots of better places to go! I found this great cleaning shop this afternoon!"

Howard rolled his eyes. "No Sheldon!" he exclaimed "We are entering this club, even if I have to tie you up and drag you in!"

"Like your tiny muscles could drag me in." Sheldon rebutted.

"Just do this for me, please." Leonard pleaded "I want you to be at bachelor party because you are my best buddy and it just wouldn't be the same without you."

"You make a good point." Sheldon said "I'll go in."

"Wow." Adam said in astonishment at this interaction.

"Tips for controlling Sheldon. 1. Be his mother or 2. Boost his ego." Leonard whispered to Adam

"What about 'being Amy'?" Adam asked.

"I guess that sometimes works." Leonard said. "But I don't think that is something you should worry about." Adam heard this and wondered to himself. After seeing Sheldon listen to Amy at the cleaning shop he wondered if Sheldon and Amy would always have a connection.

#

Amy took another shot from the male stripper's drink tray. Penny, Bernadette and Maria did so as well. Vanessa just sat and watched.

"You aren't going to drink with us VANESSSSSSSSA!" Bernadette said with a drunken tone.

"Oh ok I will." Vanessa smiled. She took a drink from the tray and subtly threw it over her shoulder. "Delicious." She gave a fake smile.

"This is so fun!" Penny said happily.

"To be fair any occasion where you drink alcohol, you consider fun." Amy giggled to herself.

"I have the best idea!" Vanessa began "Why don't we play a game of truth or dare!"

"I don't think that would be best…." Penny responded.

"Oh that sounds fun!" Amy slurred in her drunken state.

"I have to agree." Maria said "What bachelorette party would this be without embarrassing moments?"

"Ok then!" Amy said "I dare…"

"That is not how you play the game." Vanessa shook her head. "We all go around a circle and we ask a randomly selected person."

"I have a random generator on my phone." Bernadette told the group.

"Great!" Amy said "Can I go first?"

"Sure." Vanessa gave a cheeky smile.

Bernadette typed the four names and clicked to generate. Her own name came up.

"Bernadette. Truth or dare?' Amy asked.

"Truth." Bernadette answered.

"Are you happy in your marriage with Howard?" Amy asked.

Vanessa smiled. She'd seen Bernadette complain and treat Howard like a child and expected her to say she hated it.

"Of course I am happy." Bernadette said "My life right now is probably the best it ever has been, now that Stuart no longer hangs around the house all the time because of his job." Vanessa felt disappointed

"Ok my turn!" Penny interrupted. The app randomly generated Maria's name. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth!" Maria responded.

"How much do you looooooooove Raj?" Penny put emphasis on the word 'love'.

"Raj is like no guy I've ever met. He is kind and sweet, we have similar interests and we enjoy spending time with each other. I'd say I love him a lot." Maria said honestly in her drunken state.

"Really?" Amy asked "Even with you just starting to date?"

"Oh my gosh! Don't tell Raj! He'll freak out!" Maria said quickly.

"Of course." Vanessa gave a fake smile "And it is now Bernadette's Turn!" The name that was randomly generated this time was Vanessa.

"Truth or dare?" Bernadette asked.

"Dare." Vanessa changed things up.

"I dare you to make out with one of the strippers." Bernadette giggled.

"Do you think I won't because I am dating Sheldon?" Vanessa asked. The group nodded. "Fine, I'll show you." Vanessa got up, grabbed one of the more muscly strippers and starting making out with him.

"Go, Vanessa, go!" Bernadette supported. Maria was laughing on the floor. Vanessa finished making out and turned to the group.

"And that is how it is done!" she boasted. "Anyways it is my turn!" The names randomly generated again and Amy appeared. Vanessa smiled.

"Truth!" Amy responded

"Good." Vanessa smiled "Do you still have romantic feelings for Sheldon?"

Amy gave a drunk smile. "Of course I still have romantic feelings for Sheldon."

Vanessa also gave a smile but for a completely different reason. She looked at her phone and saw that it was still recording, like it had been all game.

#

The group of five males were sitting in the strip club with half-naked girls dancing around them.

"Get off! Get off!" Sheldon shouted.

"But you keep giving me money!" a stripper said to him.

"Because I want you to go away!" Sheldon explained. The stripper gave a confused look and walked away to dance for someone else.

"Thank goodness I got all these singles out." Raj said happily. He gave one to a stripper who was twerking next to him.

"Are you sure Penny will mind that females are dancing for us?" Leonard asked.

"Of course she doesn't." Howard said "What on earth do you think they are doing?"

"What are they are doing?" Leonard questioned curiously.

"Bernadette got some male strippers for Penny." Howard said.

"I hope they are being appropriate." Leonard said with worry.

"And what these dancers are doing isn't?" Howard asked rhetorically "Just relax Leonard and enjoy your last night of freedom."

"I guess you're right. I might be worrying too much after the situation with Mandy…"

"This grasshopper is so delicious" Raj interrupted and took a huge gulp of his drink. "Give me another." He said to a waitress.

"You might want to calm down Raj." Adam said "Amy told me about how you are when you get drunk."

At that moment a stripper saw that Raj was now drunk and began dancing on top of him.

"Hello sir." The stripper smiled at him.

Raj was drunk so he just giggled. "Oh, hello Maria." He said "What are you doing here? Are you a lesbian?"

"What do you mean Maria?" the stripper asked mid-dance "My name is Madelaine."

"Oh Maria, stop the foreplay." Raj said whilst drunk. "We all know you just wanted to dance for me."

Leonard and Adam saw what was occurring but before they could say something to stop him Raj kissed the stripper.

"Raj!" Leonard shouted. "Stop that!"

The stripper instantly pulled away and slapped Raj straight on the face. This slap made Raj see that the stripper did not look like Maria.

"Woah Maria, when did you get so ugly?" he asked in shock.

"How rude!" the stripper exclaimed. "Kissing is not allowed when you don't pay up!"

"What?" Raj asked.

"I'm going somewhere else to dance." The stripper grumbled and she walked away.

"How could you kiss the stripper, Raj?" Leonard asked.

"What about Maria's feelings?" Adam asked.

"But that was Maria!" Raj insisted "Did you see her transform into someone else to trick me?"

Howard saw the commotion and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe this isn't the best place to hang out right now" he observed. "Let's just go out and find a nice restaurant."

"I agree." Raj said as he was wiping his lips frantically as if they were full of germs.

They walked out of the strip club and walked down the street to find a place to eat. Suddenly Leonard's phone began to ring. He saw it was Sheldon calling. And then he realised he left Sheldon in the strip club.

"LEONARD! WHERE ARE YOU?! THESE GIRLS ARE PHORINCATING AROUND ME! PLEASE HELP!" he heard Sheldon panic through the phone "AAAAAAHHHHHH GET AWAY! I DON'T CARE IF YOUR BREASTS ARE SYMMETRICAL!"

Leonard rolled his eyes and the group walked back towards the strip club.

"So this was a fun evening." Howard said. Leonard looked at him with derision.

"At least I got to see Sheldon humiliated." Leonard shrugged. Raj, still drunk, gave a big laugh and Adam looked at him with concern.

 **End of chapter! I don't know if these parties are as good or bad as you expected but there is going to be some exciting aftermath! If you liked please favourite, follow and review. Thankyou** **bamadude** **,** **e29t4** **,** **kimbee73** **, Warriorcreed and michiamoverano for reviewing since I last posted. Thank you all again! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!**

 **ClintEye**


	23. Chapter 23

_1 Day before the Wedding_

Leonard woke up in his hotel room's bed. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked around the room and saw that no one else was there. He remembered the bachelor party and the strip club, eating at a nice restaurant and carrying a drunk and loud Raj to his bedroom and putting him to bed. When he returned to his room Penny was not there yet and he assumed that the bachelorette party was still happening. Since he was really tired he decided to go to sleep instead of waiting up for her. Leonard grabbed his phone and texted Penny.

 _Where are you? – Leonard_

A few seconds later Leonard received a text from Howard.

 _I saw your text on Penny's phone. Penny is asleep on our floor – Howard._

Leonard changed his clothes and walked towards Howard's room. He knocked on the door and Howard opened it.

"Hello Leonard." Howard greeted "It seems to have been a wild night for the girls. I woke up and was about to walk to the bathroom when I nearly stepped on Penny who was sleeping on the floor next to the bed."

Leonard walked into the room and saw Penny on the floor. She still had the dress and shoes on from the night before and there was a large puddle of drool next to her snoring mouth. Howard couldn't help but cringe.

"Where is Bernadette?" Leonard asked.

"I found her asleep in the bathtub. I tried to lift her out of it but you know I'm not that strong." Howard admitted.

"I can help you get her and Penny on the bed." Leonard offered.

Howard nodded and the two walked into the bathroom. Like Howard said Bernadette was sleeping in the bathtub. Her glasses were sitting lens first on the sink and her make-up was smudged.

"I can lift her arms and you can lift her feet." Howard said. Leonard followed these instructions and after a few failed attempts to lift her and Leonard getting an involuntary kick in the face from a sleeping Bernadette they managed to lift her onto the bed. Howard and Leonard did the same with Penny.

"What do you want to do now?" Leonard asked Howard whilst looking at a sleeping Penny and Bernadette.

"I'm hungry." Howard answered "Do you want to go to the hotel restaurant and get some breakfast and hot drinks?"

"Of course." Leonard agreed. The two walked out the room and to the restaurant.

#

When Maria woke up she was also sleeping on the floor. It turned out that she did end up spending her first night in Vegas sleeping on the floor, much like Penny said she did. She could piece together some moments from the night before but there was some blurry moments. She did remember she drank less than Penny, Bernadette and Amy but still consumed a considerable amount of alcohol. She sat up and immediately felt the hangover start to take effect

"Ouch." She said in pain. She tried standing up and managed to do so, but her legs were a bit shaky. She saw Raj tucked in his bed and he was still asleep.

"Raj, are you awake?" she asked out of politeness. The only answer was a snoring noise. She wobbled into the bathroom and got herself looking like she didn't just sleep on the floor. She took a shower, put on a nice casual dress and lightly applied some make-up on her face. When she'd finished Raj was still asleep so she walked out of the room to go and get some breakfast.

#

Sheldon was sitting in his bed and was reading the daily news on his tablet. Vanessa had just gotten out of the bathroom at 6:58am.

"I followed our schedule so you could use the bathroom from 7 to 7:20." She told him.

"I'm impressed." Sheldon smiled as he went to grab his Friday clothing. "I might consider you as a replacement for when Leonard abandons me for Penny."

"Ok then." Vanessa wasn't sure what to think of this. "How was the bachelor party last night?"

"Oh it was awful." Sheldon told her "There were these strippers dancing around me and then the guys abandoned me in a strip club. At least the dinner at that restaurant was fine but the meat to bun to condiment ratio of my burger was nothing like the Cheesecake Factory's."

"The girls and I played truth or dare and some pretty juicy gossip was thrown about. Amy even said…" she began.

"I don't care about when she has her period, believe me, I already know." Sheldon interrupted "And I need to get to the bathroom. With all this pointless chitchat maybe you are not the best replacement for Leonard." He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Vanessa shrugged at this and walked towards her laptop. She synced her phone to it and saw the sound clip she recorded from the night before. She pressed play to make sure it sounded fine.

 _"Ok then!" Amy said "I dare…"_

 _"That is not how you play the game." Vanessa corrected. "We all go around a circle and we ask a randomly selected person."_

Vanessa paused the recording and smiled. This was going to be fun.

#

Leonard and Howard were sitting at a table in the hotel's restaurant. A waiter had took their order and left the two of them in peace.

"Oh look! There's Maria!" Howard saw her walk into the restaurant. Howard waved at her and she saw this. Maria walked over to the table and quickly took a seat. She put her hands in her head.

"Hi guys." She said "I'm sorry I'm a little hungover. Actually I'M more than a little hungover."

"Well at least you're walking." Leonard said "We found Penny and Bernadette asleep on the floor and in the bathtub."

"I woke up on the floor too." Maria admitted.

A waiter just came up to the table to hear this and Maria turned her head away. The waiter put two hot beverages in front of them.

"Can I please get a coffee and some bacon and eggs please?" Maria asked with her head still turned.

"Of course, madam." The waiter said. He wrote down the order and turned away.

"What happened at the party last night?" Maria asked the two guys "I found Raj sound and drunkenly asleep in his bed."

"We went to a strip club and then to a fancy restaurant." Howard explained. "Nothing at all happened."

"Especially at the strip club." Leonard added.

"Then why did Raj seem so drunk and you guys are sober?" Maria questioned.

"I think he took way too many shots at the strip club." Howard explained "And after what happened there he wanted to drown himself some more at the restaurant. When we got back to the hotel Adam, Leonard and I had to tuck him into bed."

"What do you mean 'after what happened'…"

"Here are your meals." The waiter interrupted and carried three different meals and put them in front of them.

"Thank goodness for your timing." Leonard said to the waiter. The waiter gave a confused look before he walked away. "And before you interrogate us about 'Raj' shouldn't we know what happened at the bachelorette party that made Bernadette and Penny be so drunk?"

"Yeah, what happened?" someone who just approached the table asked. They turned and saw Adam had walked to the table. "I found Amy lying her bed with half her clothes on the floor. She even had only one shoe on."

"Don't you three worry, it was just dancing with strippers and a harmless truth or dare game which I don't really remember." Maria explained.

"You don't remember?" Adam queried.

"I remember about half of the truths and dares that happened." Maria responded. She especially remembered when she was asked about how much she loved Raj.

"Oh my gosh!" Howard exclaimed. Leonard, Maria and Adam turned to him and he was looking at his phone.

"What racist tweet did Sheldon post now?" Leonard asked with a disapproving tone.

"No, it is much worse." Howard said "Vanessa just posted a sound clip of the bachelorette party on Facebook!"

"What?" Maria asked.

"What is the sound clip of?" Leonard asked.

"I don't know yet." Howard responded. "Do you want me to play it?"

"No!" Maria exclaimed.

"It can't be too bad." Adam said hopefully.

"I'll just play it." Howard said "We'll hear about it eventually from gossips like Penny anyway."

Maria rolled her eyes and waited certain embarrassment.

 _"Ok then!" Amy said "I dare…"_

 _"That is not how you play the game." Vanessa corrected. "We all go around a circle and we ask a randomly selected person."_

"Oh my gosh!" Maria shook her head "Not the truth or dare game." They continued to listen and the clip played on to when they asked Bernadette a question.

 _"Of course I am happy." Bernadette answered "My life right now is probably the best it ever has been."_

Howard couldn't help smile when he heard this. The clip played on.

 _"Truth!" Maria responded._

Maria cringed at this. She prayed at that moment that a miracle like the internet connection being disrupted suddenly.

 _"How much do you looooooooove Raj?" Penny put emphasis on the word 'love'._

 _"Raj is like no guy I've ever met. He is kind and sweet, we have similar interests and we enjoy spending time with each other. I'd say I love him a lot." Maria said honestly in her drunken state._

 _"Really?" Amy asked "Even with you just starting to date?"_

 _"Oh my gosh! Don't tell Raj! He'll freak out!" Maria said quickly._

The three of them turned towards Maria and she looked down at her meal. They respectfully looked back at Howard's phone. Suddenly there was a sound jump.

 _"Anyways it is my turn!" Vanessa said._

"What? She edited out the part where she made out with a stripper!" Maria said angrily "That hypocrite!"

 _"Truth!" Amy responded_

 _"Good." Vanessa sounded happy "Do you still have romantic feelings for Sheldon?"_

 _Amy spoke. "Of course I still have romantic feelings for Sheldon."_

And the clip finished as if for dramatic effect on that last statement.

"Wow." Leonard said.

"That whore!" Maria said angrily.

"You have nothing to worry about. You only said you loved some nice, when not drunk, guy." Adam said "My girlfriend just admitted she had feelings for her ex!"

"Don't trust Vanessa!" Maria responded "The clip was edited for Vanessa's benefit anyway and Amy was clearly drunk and not thinking clearly!"

"I still don't know how to feel about this." Adam thought aloud "I'm going to go back to my dorm and talk to Amy about this." And he walked away.

Leonard looked at Howard. "Well at least Penny didn't say anything embarrassing." He shrugged and took a bite of his breakfast.

#

"Penny, wake up!" Bernadette was shaking Penny. She'd just woken up and checked her Facebook news feed.

"Ow, please keep it down!" Penny said amidst a hangover.

"You really need to see this!" Bernadette insisted.

"Where the hell am I?" Penny asked.

"Just in my bedroom, I guess we fell asleep here." She explained "But you seriously have to listen to this!" Bernadette pressed the play button.

 _"Ok then!" Amy said "I dare…"_

"Pause!" Penny shouted "I don't want to hear it! Who sent that to you?"

"Vanessa put it on Facebook." Bernadette explained.

"That *****!" she exclaimed with a swear world.

"What is going to happen?" Bernadette asked "The clip goes all the way to a part where Amy says she still has feelings for Sheldon."

"I'll tell you what is going happen!" Penny became angry. "I'm going to un-invite her and Sheldon to the wedding!"

"You can't do that!" Bernadette said "Sheldon is important to your life and not to invite him because of Vanessa…"

"I have no choice! I need to have a drama free wedding." Penny stood up and walked out the door, making sure to slam it when she left.

#

Sheldon walked out of the bathroom at 7:20 exactly. Vanessa was sitting at the computer so she turned to see him and smiled.

"Did you have a good shower Sheldon?" Vanessa asked.

"It was fine but I wish I'd brought my thermometer to measure the temperature of the water." Sheldon said. Sheldon got his tablet and opened the Facebook app. "Wow you posted a song. Is it Neil Diamond?"

"That is not a song." Vanessa said happily "Play it!"

"Ok…" Sheldon pressed play and heard the whole thing. Vanessa watched his face but his expression never changed.

 _Amy spoke. "Of course I still have romantic feelings for Sheldon."_

Sheldon looked at Vanessa with confusion. "What did you do?"

"I think Amy officially lost the breakup." She giggled.

"You think this is funny?" Sheldon suddenly sounded angry.

"There is nothing to be mad about Sheldon." She said to him.

"You've completely violated the secrecy clause of the 'truth or dare' game!" he shouted.

"No one said anything about keeping anything a secret." Vanessa responded calmly.

"It is an implied rule." Sheldon responded "This makes it your third strike!"

"What?" she questioned.

"First Strike: Double dipping the fries on our second date. Second Strike: Complaining about the cleaning shop in front of me and third strike: Breaking the secrecy clause and possibly hurting my friends." Sheldon explained.

"You're crazy!" Vanessa said.

"Firstly my mother had me tested!" Sheldon argued "And I'm crazy? I wanted to make my ex-girlfriend jealous not ruin the entire dynamic of a friendship group!"

"What?" she queried again

"I've seen the way you smile whenever SOMEONE, not just Amy, gets into some sort of pain or trouble." Sheldon said "I only do that when I benefit from it!"

"This is ridiculous." Vanessa complained.

"Unfortunately you won't have time to take my class before the wedding so I'm going to insist you go home." He explained "I'll move your flight home to this afternoon."

"I am not going home!"

"Vanessa, I am forced to not go to the wedding with you! Penny and Leonard mean a surprisingly large amount to me and I've decided that is more important." Sheldon explained.

"Who cares about Leonard and Penny…" Vanessa argued back but suddenly a large noise interrupted her. The noise was someone hitting the door very loudly.

"VANESSA! SHELDON! OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" the two heard Penny yell at the top of her lungs…

 **This scene will continue in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the drama. If you liked please favourite, follow and review. Thankyou** **bamadude** **,** **kimbee73** **,** **e29t4** **, michiamoverano, Warriorcreed and** **SRAM** **for reviewing. Always great to have people who read every chapter. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	24. Chapter 24

_1 Day before the Wedding_

"VANESSA! SHELDON! OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" Sheldon and Vanessa heard Penny yell at the top of her lungs.

"Do not open that door, Sheldon, until we can sort this out as a couple!" Vanessa warned.

"I think you misunderstood my previous statements." Sheldon said "We are no longer a couple."

"What? I was doing what was best for us!" Vanessa argued.

"I CAN HEAR YOU IN THERE!" Penny continued to yell and bang on the door. "OPEN THE DOOR NOW!"

"I'm sorry Vanessa but Penny comes before you." He said "She is like my sister." Vanessa said a swear word as Sheldon walked over to the door and opened it. Penny had an angry expression on her face.

"Good morning Penny." Sheldon gave an awkward smile "How was your night?"

"Shut up, Sheldon." She said angrily and stormed into the room. She stood right in front of Vanessa who had her arms crossed. Sheldon felt awkward tension and decided to go on his tablet.

"Hello, Penny." Vanessa said condescendingly.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY FRIEND'S LIVES AND TURN IT INTO YOUR OWN LITTLE GAME!" Penny shouted louder than Sheldon had ever heard her.

"I did nothing Penny." Vanessa said "Everything that was said wasn't by me."

"IN CONFIDENCE AT MY BACHELORETTE PARTY OF ALL THINGS!" Penny screamed "YOU AND SHELDON ARE NO LONGER COMING TO THE WEDDING!"

"What?" Sheldon looked up from his tablet.

"YOU TWO WILL PACK YOU BAGS AND LEAVE AS SOON AS WE CHANGE YOUR FLIGHTS!" Penny screamed.

"You'll just have to change mine as I just changed Vanessa's flight." Sheldon responded and showed them the airline's page on his tablet. "I know Leonard's password."

"You just changed her flight?" Penny asked Sheldon.

"As soon as I saw what she posted on Facebook I demanded she not attend the wedding." Sheldon explained.

"Really?" Penny asked.

"There was no logical reasoning against it." Sheldon said back.

Vanessa looked back and forth from Sheldon to Penny. Penny shouted again at Vanessa "YOU NEED TO PACK YOUR BAGS AND LEAVE NOW!"

Vanessa for some reason smiled. She put some clothes and toiletries into a small suitcase and walked out of the room.

"That felt good." Penny took a deep breath.

"I can't believe you were going to un-invite me from your wedding." Sheldon shook his head.

"I thought you'd take Vanessa's side and I'd be forced to." Penny said sincerely.

"Well like many of your thoughts, it was wrong." Sheldon said. Penny laughed at this.

#

After breakfast Maria went back to her room. Raj wasn't sleeping anymore. Now he was sitting up on his bed rubbing his head.

"Good morning Raj." She greeted.

"Oh hello Maria." Raj said.

"Have you been on Facebook this morning?" Maria asked.

"No. Why?" Raj asked.

"No reason." She said and Raj gave her a confused glance. "Ok. There is something but it is just a thing Vanessa posted."

"What do you mean?" Raj questioned.

"It is nothing." Maria rebutted "If you see something from the bachelorette party on Facebook just ignore it."

Suddenly there was a knock at the room's door. Maria got up and opened the door to see it was Vanessa.

"Vanessa!" her tone became angry "If I were prone to violence I would punch you right now!"

"No need to get hostile." She said "I just wanted to tell you about what Raj did last night."

"Vanessa stop meddling in everyone's…"

"Raj made out with a stripper!" Vanessa said quickly "I heard Sheldon say it in his sleep!"

"Vanessa!"

"Gotta go to the airport now." She said "Keep me updated." She gave a mean smile and walked away.

Maria closed the door and looked at Raj who was grabbing his phone.

"Please don't go on Facebook!" she requested "And did you really make out with a stripper?"

"The only thing I remember about last night was Sheldon whining the whole time." He recalled.

"So what Vanessa said might've been false?" she asked.

"But it might have been true." Raj said back. "Everything is just a blur."

"This puts me in a really weird position." Maria said. "But I think I have a solution."

"What?"

"If you promise not to listen to whatever Vanessa posted and ignore everyone else talking about it, I will pretend like I didn't hear anything about you making out with a stripper." Maria said.

"That seems like a deal." Raj said "In fact remove the post from my feed." He held out his phone.

"Ok." Maria said and she took Raj's phone, found the post and deleted it.

"Are you sure you don't mind about the stripper?" Raj asked.

"I don't Raj." She gave a smile "And I don't blame the stripper. You were probably the cutest guy in the club." Raj smiled back.

#

Adam walked into his room and Amy was still asleep.

"Amy." He whispered to her and lightly tapped her shoulder. Amy quickly opened her eyes and jumped, nearly hitting Adam in the face.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry Adam." Amy apologised.

"I'm assuming you haven't checked Facebook." Adam said.

Amy had a headache and she groaned when she sat up. "Adam I am really hungover so I haven't done anything."

"Long story short, Vanessa posted a sound clip of the bachelorette party truth or dare." He explained.

"Oh my god!" Amy suddenly panicked as all the memories came back to her. "What did you hear?"

"A whole bunch of stuff with Bernadette being happy and Maria loving Raj." He began "And then you admitting you still had feelings for Sheldon."

"What? Don't listen to it…"

"Amy, I am not going to act like I didn't realise you still had feelings for him." Adam said "But I do need to know if you are fully committed to me."

"Adam of course I am committed to you." Amy said with nervous stutters "But I admit that I still have feelings for Sheldon. But isn't that natural? For someone to still have some connection to someone they were in a relationship with?"

"I've been in several relationships and I've never spent as much time with my exes as you do with Sheldon. I have realised it is slightly unnerving." Adam admitted.

"Please Adam don't be affected by it…"

"Amy I'm still going to the wedding with you but after that I'm going to seriously consider where I stand with this relationship." He told her. He turned to leave the room.

"Adam. Wait…"

"I'm going to a casino for a while. I'll see you later when you are less hungover." Adam said as walked out the door. The door slammed a little and disturbed Amy's headache. Amy began to cry. She was now on the receiving end of the 'need to think about the relationship' speech and she didn't realise how bad it felt.

#

 _Back in California_

Stuart walked into Linda's office after spending an hour working on one of his backgrounds.

"Good morning Stuart." Linda smiled at Stuart "Why did you want to see me?"

"I was hoping… I mean if you don't mind… not that I am demanding…" Stuart stuttered.

"What is it Stuart?" Linda interrupted.

"I have a wedding to go to and I was hoping if I could stop working early today to catch a flight." Stuart explained.

"If you were Debra, with her terrible car-park backgrounds and lacklustre work ethic, it'd be a definite no." she said "But you've done exemplary work this week so I will allow you to finish work early. In fact I also have to catch a flight for a wedding."

"Very interesting." Stuart nodded "My wedding is Vegas."

"Mine too." She said.

"Your wedding wouldn't be between Leonard Hofstadter and Penny…"

"Yeah it is." Linda said in shock. "How do you know them?"

"I'm friends with them and I dated Penny once." Stuart boasted a little. "How do you know them?"

"I auditioned Penny once for a voice role but the board thought she was too perky." Linda explained "However we became good friends when I dated one of her sporty friends and we used to meet every weekend to watch football. I even met Leonard at one of those things. He was acting really weird throughout it."

"Cool." Stuart said. "Weird she hasn't mentioned you."

"We haven't spent much time together because she has been spending time with her new scientist friends although she still likes me enough to invite me." Linda explained "Ok now we've established this coincidence and I've granted you your early leave, you should get back to work." Linda ordered.

Stuart nodded, left the room and walked back towards his office.

#

"Where were you?" Debra asked Stuart when he walked into his office. Debra was re-doing her carpark scene and failing miserably.

"I was asking to leave early today because I am going to a wedding." Stuart explained. He sat down and began drawing again.

"Cool a wedding. I love weddings. Do you have a date?" she asked.

"No I don't." Stuart said without looking up from his work.

"Well I'm available." Debra told him.

"Not even if you were the Last Girl in the World. This isn't a pop song." Stuart said.

"Not even Rihanna would turn down this." Debra stood up and posed seductively.

"No." Stuart said again. "And I suspect you just want a way to keep your job and if you gave me a date and maybe even sex I'd do all your work for you."

Debra gave a heavy sigh and stormed out of the office. Stuart rolled his eyes and continued to work.

 **Two chapters in one day! Enjoy!**


	25. Chapter 25

_1 Day before the wedding_

"We just saw Vanessa go onto her plane." Penny said to Leonard "There is no way she is going to cause any more trouble." She turned and smiled at him.

The two of them were at the airport. Not only were they there to make sure Vanessa had left but also to greet their families who were coming in for the wedding. They were flying in on Friday afternoon before the wedding on Saturday.

"We need to go to a different gate!" Leonard said "My mother and our family are coming in now from New Jersey!" Penny and Leonard rushed over to that gate where people were already walking off of the flight.

"Where are they?" Penny asked.

Suddenly Leonard saw his mother walk out of the gate. A good looking man followed after her with an equally good looking woman on his arm. A woman followed after them with a middle-aged man next to her each holding the hand of a child.

"Mum." Leonard waved at them. His mother saw this, gave an annoyed expression and the group walked up to the couple. "Hello everyone." Leonard greeted.

"Is this Penny?" the good looking man said and held out his hand to shake hers "I'm Michael Hofstadter, Leonard's younger brother. You are even prettier than the photographs."

Penny blushed. "Thanks."

"And I'm his girlfriend, Sophia." The good looking woman interrupted quickly. "And ignore Micheal. He is such a flirt!"

"I can tell." Penny said back.

"Penny, this is Hayley my older sister." Leonard told her. "And her husband Nathan and their two children Phoebe and James."

"Hello." The two children said simultaneously. Nathan gave a polite nod.

"Salutations Ms. Penny." Hayley said very properly.

"My first name is Penny." She corrected. "My last name is…"

"Can we please stop with the pointless chit-chat?" Beverly interrupted "I believe we have to go to the hotel and check-in. And I need to see Sheldon. He texted me about all the drama and I want to make sure he is ok." She justified.

"Of course he told you." Leonard said. "And he is fine."

"Come on everyone." Beverly said "Are you coming with us?" she asked Leonard.

"No we've got to greet Penny's family." He told her.

"Well I guess I'm not surprised that you wouldn't escort us to the hotel." Beverly shook her head in disappointment and the Hofstadter clan walked away from them.

"Wow your mother always surprises me in the worst way." She said "When is my family's flight?"

"It is landing ten minutes from now." Leonard said. The two walked towards the appropriate gate and waited for them to arrive. When the plane did come people began to walk off the plane and Penny kept looking around. Suddenly she ran up to someone and gave them a big hug. Leonard recognised him as her dad.

"It's so great to see you slugger." Wyatt, Penny's father, said.

"It's great to see you too!" she said and hugged him again.

"Don't hog Penny all to yourself." Penny's mother said to him. Penny turned to her and gave her a hug.

"Hello." Leonard said awkwardly to them. This amount of happiness to see family left him half-stunned.

"Oh yes, Leonard." Penny said as if she forget he was there. "You know my dad and this is my mother."

"Nice to meet you mam." Leonard said politely.

"Aren't you sweet." She giggled "Wyatt told me all about how nice and smart you are as well as how he got you back together with Penny."

"I told you not to mention that." Wyatt said to his wife. It seemed he had told her about his discussion with Leonard years ago.

"Leonard this is my sister and her four children." Penny gestured to a woman with a 4, 7, 10 and 15 year old next to her. The woman had some of Penny's facial features but was more built and looked tired.

"I have one for each marriage." She said. Leonard wondered if she was joking but her expression was completely serious. "Believe me, marriage is not worth it."

"Ok…" Leonard said in response.

"And this is my brother, Jeremy." Penny introduced.

"Hello Leonard." Jeremy responded. If Leonard didn't know he was out of rehab, he wouldn't have suspected a thing. But he was looking at Leonard intently as if trying to see if he was good enough for his sister. Leonard gulped.

"I've booked your hotel rooms and a taxi should be waiting for you." Penny smiled at her family "It is really great to see you."

"Thanks slugger." Wyatt said. Penny's family walked away towards the exit.

"My grandparents are coming in tomorrow morning." Penny said sadly "They said they couldn't stay in this city for too long as they didn't want to die in a party city."

"And you thought my family was weird." Leonard said. Penny gave him a sideward look and saw Stuart walking towards them.

"Look it is Stuart!" Penny pointed out.

"Hi guys!" Stuart said. "I'm sorry to have missed the bachelor party."

"Don't get us started on those parties." Leonard remembered the drama.

"Did you know my boss is coming to the wedding?" Stuart asked.

"Who is your boss?" Penny asked.

"Linda Wade." Stuart said.

"Oh right she does work at an animation company." Penny remembered "I'd completely forgotten. To be fair it has been a while since we've hung out."

"Why?" Stuart asked.

"I've just been hanging out with Leonard's friends." Penny said.

"Penny!" the three heard. They turned and saw Linda walked towards them.

"Weird. I didn't see her on my flight." Stuart said.

"When we gave her the tickets she paid us to upgrade her first class." Penny explained.

"Nice to see you!" Linda said "And Stuart too!"

"I hope you enjoy your time here." Penny said "I believe we've given you the address of the hotel."

"Yep you have." Linda smiled "Great to see you again." She then walked off towards the exit.

"She seems nice." Leonard said.

"Well you already have a girl!" Stuart suddenly said and walked off after her. Penny and Leonard gave each other a confused look.

#

"Wow. It is hard to believe I am in a Las Vegas casino!" Maria said happily.

"Well don't get too carried away." Raj warned "You are already poor enough as a student."

The two walked over to a game and began to see if they would win anything. The two kept getting out of luck until Maria saw her machine make a noise and money came out of it.

"I won!" she said happily.

"Beginners luck." Raj pouted.

"I'm thirsty. Do you want to go to the bar?" Maria asked.

"I love bars." Raj said and the two walked to the casino's bar. They saw Adam there drinking something.

"Hello Adam." Maria said to him as Raj and Maria sat next to him. "Why aren't you with Amy?"

"Because she obviously cares about Sheldon still." Adam said "Didn't you hear what Vanessa posted on Facebook?"

"I wouldn't trust that thing too seriously." Maria told him. "Vanessa edited out a whole lot where she made out with a stripper."

"But when I confronted her about it she said she still had feelings for him!" Adam told them.

"No offence Adam, but Amy and Sheldon make a lot of sense and they are the most compatible couple in our group, or were the most." Raj told him. "You have to realise them getting back together is probably inevitable."

"What?" Adam asked in confusion.

"You probably didn't realise when you came into this relationship with Amy but you are probably just an obstacle for them to overcome." Raj told him.

"That is… are you serious?" Adam questioned.

"I wouldn't say something like that if I weren't true." Raj responded.

"Huh." Adam thought to himself. "At least for you what Maria said was out of affection for you and not some…"

"Well we've had enough to drink." Maria interrupted "We should go."

"What?" Raj asked.

"We don't need to hear about what I said." Maria continued.

"Oh right, I agreed I wouldn't hear about what you said. Bye Adam." Raj waved and the two left Adam at the bar still thinking about his relationship with Amy and whether it worth continuing.

#

Penny and Leonard walked into their hotel room in the night after greeting their families.

"Well that was fun." Penny said to Leonard "I loved seeing my family again."

"I have strongly mixed feelings about meeting my family again." Leonard said. "What was with your sister saying marriage not being worth it?"

"Well she has had four children from three lazy husbands." Penny explained. "She's been married four times but didn't have any children from her second marriage though because she caught him cheating and shot him."

"Oh, you've told me that story before." Leonard remembered "You don't think something like that will happen to us?"

"Well I doubt I'll shoot you…"

"I mean do you think we might just turn out to be some mistake?" Leonard asked.

"I think that we will be together for the rest of our lives." Penny told Leonard "And this is even coming from someone with glaring commitment issues,"

"Thanks, I just hope everything turns out fine."

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Penny asked. Penny went to her luggage and found a small bag and put some necessary items into it.

"I am ready." Leonard said with a deep breath. The next day was the wedding and he felt both excited and nervous.

"Do you know the plan?" Penny questioned.

"You are going to sleep in a different room for tonight and when you have left the hotel tomorrow you will text me so I can know that I can leave." Leonard said

"I don't want to see you as it is bad luck." Penny agreed

"Then I'll get ready and go to the venue. Everything is set and we've got our group helping us get stuff ready." Leonard continued.

"Okay then." Penny had finished packing her bag "See you tomorrow at our wedding."

"I can't believe I'm hearing you say that." Leonard said. "Good night."

"Good night." Penny said and she left the room.

 **Next chapter the wedding will finally begin. Will it go according to plan or will there be some chaos? Thank you for reading and if you liked favourite, follow and review. Thanks bamadude, kimbee73, SRAM, e29t4, bluedecor and michiamoverano for reviewing. Thanks.**

 **ClintEye**


	26. Chapter 26

_The Day of the Wedding_

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" someone said repetitively. Leonard opened his eyes and saw Sheldon and Howard standing in front of his bed where he was sleeping. Sheldon was the one who was saying 'Wake Up' over and over again.

"What are you doing?" Leonard asked and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Today is the big day!" Howard reminded with an excited tone.

"Oh my gosh! I have to get ready? Has Penny left yet?" Leonard said hurriedly as he realised he'd probably overslept.

"Bernadette just texted me that she and Penny have left the hotel." Howard replied "She said Penny texted you that as well."

"I've been sleeping so I haven't checked my phone." Leonard said "I had a really good dream about our children."

"Stop wasting time and get ready!" Sheldon ordered "You have to be at the chapel on time or the whole schedule for the wedding will be ruined."

"For once your OCD about time is correct." Leonard got up from his bed "I have to get my suit and everything and bring it to the venue and get dressed..."

"Relax Leonard." Howard said "I gave your things to Raj and he bought them to the wedding venue so you wouldn't ruin it by wearing it there."

"Thank goodness. I am going to shower, get changed into some clothes and then we'll take a taxi to my wedding. We'd decided two limousines was too expensive so I gave Penny the honour of riding in one to wedding." Leonard rambled as he got up and grabbed some clothes. "Did Raj remember my cufflinks…"

"Just stop worrying!" Howard reprimanded. Leonard sighed and walked into the bathroom to shower.

"Leonard's tardiness never stops to amaze me." Sheldon shook his head in disappointment.

#

Guests were arriving at the wedding venue. Raj and Amy were already there making sure everything was in order for the bride and groom. Raj was wearing a high class suit and Maria, who wasn't a bridesmaid, was wearing a nice but plain dress.

"This is a great venue." Maria complimented. Raj had just taken Leonard's suit to a changing room and returned to the main hall.

"I am impressed with Leonard." Raj said "And I thought I was the only one in the group with good taste."

"Oh you do have the best taste." Maria agreed.

The venue was the Hilltop Wedding Chapel. It was located on the outskirts of the city on a small hill that had a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. The chapel itself had a main hall for guests to wait in, a plethora of changing rooms and party rooms as well as a beautiful wedding room for the actual ceremony. There were stain glass windows depicting religious figures around the ceiling of the wedding room and gorgeous statues scattered in the four corners.

"Raj!" a loud voice shouted near them. Raj and Maria turned around to see Amy in a purple Bridesmaids dress walking towards them. She had an angry expression on her face.

"I love that dress on you." Maria complimented her but knew that Amy wasn't going to stop for niceties.

"You told Adam that my relationship with Sheldon was inevitable and that he was just obstacle for us to overcome!" Amy said in a harsh tone but quietly so the other guests there wouldn't hear.

"Wasn't he drunk?" Raj asked "I didn't think he'd remember."

"He had three fairly tame alcohol beverages!" Amy explained "He doesn't excess drink like you!"

"I'm sorry Amy but he seemed down and I didn't want to lie to him…"

"Well he was already second guessing our relationship and now he is pretty sure he doesn't want to continue after the wedding." Amy said angrily "He came to my hotel room last night, explained what you said and didn't talk to me for the rest of the evening!"

"I'm sorry Amy." Raj said honestly "But truthfully Adam helped me when I was drunk at the bachelor party and I surprisingly like the guy. I didn't think it'd be a very good thing to lie to him."

"Well you thought wrong!" Amy screeched a bit too loud. Some of the other guests turned to look at her "I'm not going to cause more of a scene because I don't want to ruin the wedding but I will still be angry at you after the wedding!" Amy turned away from them and walked towards another group of people. Raj gulped. Given how much Amy knew about the brain and mind manipulation he knew it'd be awful being on her bad side.

"That was fun!" Maria said sarcastically "Lets ignore it and go talk to some of the guests."

"You know I have social anxiety and that…"

"Don't worry Raj I'll be here to help." She gave a smile. "If it gets awkward I'll talk for you!"

"Thanks." Raj was pleasantly surprised at how Maria helped his anxieties and the two walked up to a group of people.

#

Leonard's taxi arrived at the venue and him, Sheldon and Howard walked out. Sheldon and Howard were in their best men suits while Leonard was in casual clothes. They walked into the main hall where all the guests were. Most of them turned towards him.

"Leonard!" Leonard's brother, Michael, exclaimed. "I never thought you'd get married before me but here you are!"

"I'm older then you." Leonard reminded him.  
"My statement still stands." His brother responded and looked down to him as if to remind him how much taller and better looking he was.

"Leonard why aren't you dressed in somethin' fancy?" Penny's father walked up to him.

"I have to get changed into my suit." Leonard answered.

"This place is nice." Penny's sister, who was wearing the same bridesmaids dress as Amy, complimented. She was holding hands with both her four and seven year old child. "It is kind of like my first wedding. The one that lasted the longest but crashed and burned the hardest."

All the people who'd been listening into the conversation gave her and awkward look.

"Ok, well I need to get my suit on." Leonard told them. "Raj texted me that he put it in the last changing room." He pushed through the crowd towards the changing rooms.

"Typical Leonard." His mother shook his head "Being rude."

Howards began walking after him and noticed Sheldon didn't follow. "Come on!" Howard insisted.

"I'd prefer not to see Leonard getting dressed." Sheldon said "Even with my detest for social interaction I'd prefer to stay right here." Howard rolled his eyes and just followed Leonard as that was more important.

"Shelly!" Sheldon heard a familiar Texas accent. He turned and saw his mother.

"Mother! What are you doing here?" Sheldon asked with confusion.

"Your friends invited me to wedding." She explained "I flew in on an early flight this morning."

"But why?" Sheldon asked "You aren't related or good friends…"

"Shelly!" she shouted "I didn't come all this way to support your friends just to be judged. Only the Lord can do that!"

"Oh you really think that?" Beverly said to herself nearby.

"Excuse me ma'am." Mary walked up to her "Do you really want to start this again?!"

"Please don't." Sheldon shook his head "You both like me and that should be enough to maintain a friendship."

"I'm sorry." Mary apologised "I hope you can forgive me for snapping."

"I would say the same but I guess you are already going to." Beverly said sincerely but with a bit of sarcasm.

"That is better than nothing." Mary compromised and gave a fake smile.

Beverly was standing in a group of people. Sheldon spotted Leonard's brother, Leonard's sister and brother-in-law with their two children and Adam. Amy was nowhere to be seen near him.

"Hello everyone." Sheldon said to the group. He introduced the entire group of people to his mother until he made it to Adam "… And this is Amy's…. friend Adam."

"What do you mean by 'friend'?" Mary asked curiously.

"I believe it is a coping response to Adam being Amy's date to the wedding." Beverly said without thought.

"Oh I'm sorry Shelly I didn't know." Mary said sincerely. "Hopefully someday you'll put that ring to use."

"What ring?" Leonard's brother asked.

"Oh it is nothing." Sheldon lied.

"With all due respect, are you intending to propose to someone?" Leonard's sister asked politely.

"If it is Vanessa I am going to get really angry." Adam looked at Sheldon sternly.

"Who is Vanessa?" Mary asked.

"You don't have to worry that is now a mistake of the past." Sheldon told his mother "And I would like it if we stopped talking about the ring."

"What ring?" Amy said as she walked up to the group. Sheldon couldn't help notice how beautiful she looked in her bridesmaids dress. He was almost taken aback.

"Well... um… it doesn't… um… matter." Sheldon stuttered.

"Oh Sheldon what is with you today?" Beverly questioned with confusion "What did your mother mean by 'the ring'?"

"She obviously means the One Ring from Lord of the Rings that I stole off of Leonard." He lied and his face had more tics than a Lyme Disease Research Facility. "I still feel guilty!" Sheldon panicked and walked away swiftly.

"Well he is weird." Michael laughed.

"If you weren't successful in your career I don't know what I'd do with you." Beverly shook her head in disappointment at Michael's statement.

"I think I should talk to him." Mary said. "Do you want to come with?" she asked Amy.

Amy wanted to make sure Sheldon was fine but felt Adam staring straight at her.

"No, I don't think I want to talk to my ex." She said. She looked straight at Adam and hoped this wouldn't disappoint him. His facial expression didn't change, like he wasn't surprised that Amy was pandering to him.

#

"Nice to see you here Stuart." Raj said "You look surprisingly nice in that suit."

"Well you did pick it out for me." Stuart complimented.

"Do a turn, I want to see the whole thing!" Raj said excitedly. Stuart turned around in a circle. Raj smiled gleefully.

"I love it!" Raj almost screeched "You hardly even notice your interesting skin complexion."

Maria and Linda were standing next to the two of them with baffled expressions on their faces.

"And we thought we were the females in our relationships." Maria laughed.

"Oh Stuart and I aren't in a relationship." Linda gave a confused expression.

"So you are just his date then?" Maria asked "I guess Raj and I are kinda doing the same thing…"

"No, we are just work friends." Linda corrected "In fact I am his boss."

"You two seem to be spending most of your time at this wedding together…" Maria continued.

"We both like art and comic books, given some of our shows are based on comic books." Linda explained "I've never known someone who knew so much about both topics."

"Well then you should talk to Sheldon." Raj told Linda "He can talk your ear off about Renaissance artists and how they influenced modern media. He did so when we were watching the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and it was so bad that we didn't care that he was talking through it"

"I'm sorry for insinuating anything." Maria apologised "The last thing I want to do is take Vanessa's place as the trouble stirrer."

"Oh you'll never get that bad." Raj said.

"I know." Maria said back "But if I want to get in your friend's good graces I have to be extra careful. I can't just bake them brownies like you and they'll just forgive you."

"Don't you work for the company that makes the wedding cake?" Stuart asked.

"Yeah but I didn't make the cake, the Las Vegas branch did." Maria explained "I've never been to a wedding where I get to eat my own company's cake!" Stuart noticed how excited she looked when she said this.

#

More guests kept arriving at the wedding location. Barry Kripke arrived with an obviously payed for date. Will Wheaton arrived and kept taking pictures for his blog. Several university colleagues and pharmaceutical workers arrived as well as several of Penny's old friends from before she began spending more time with Leonard's friends. Penny's grandparents and cousins arrived as well as some of Leonard's extended family who hadn't seen him in years due to his evasion of his family. Even Leonard's father showed up but avoided going anywhere near Beverly because of tension. With the crowd getting bigger and bigger Sheldon had no choice but to pout in an empty dressing room, away from the crowd. Someone knocked on the door of the room.

"Shelly, it is me." Mary told him.

"I don't want to talk to anyone, mother!" Sheldon said loudly.

"I understand that." She said "But I am not just 'anyone'. I am your mother!"

Sheldon took a deep sigh and unlocked the door. "Come in, mother."

Mary Cooper saw Sheldon who sat back down on one of the dressing room seats.

"What is wrong, Shelly?"

"Nothing is wrong mother." Sheldon told her "I just don't want to be around Amy or Adam especially now I don't have a date of my own."

"Sheldon you can't hide out here." His mother said "You need to stand up the front as the best man."

"And why did you mention the ring?" Sheldon reprimanded "The only person who knew about that was Penny!"

"I didn't mean to throw some bad eggs." His mother clarified "I didn't think before I talked. I hope you can forgive me. Penny just told me about the ring when I called to get flight details and I thought everyone knew."

"Of course mother, I will always forgive your odd behaviours." Sheldon said "But I don't think I'm ready to go out there on my own. After the hassle with Vanessa I don't feel like I can date anyone else but Amy."

"You can figure this out after the wedding is over." Mary told him. "Right now you need to be there for Leonard and Penny."

"You are right mother." Sheldon said with a nervous breath "Leonard and Penny need a perfect wedding and if I stay in here I'll be the one ruining the schedule. That'd be embarrassing."

"Sure, whatever makes you happy." His mother smiled. "My praying before I walked in here worked."

"Sure, mother." Sheldon sighed and stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

#

Penny and Bernadette sat in a Limousine. Bernadette wore her bridesmaid dress whilst Penny was in her beautiful white wedding dress.

"Leonard will be so taken aback at how beautiful you look." Bernadette said.

"I hope so." Penny took a deep breath. "I am ready to do this!"

"This'll be the best wedding ever!" Bernadette screeched with excitement. Luckily there were no dogs around.

"I hope nothing will occur to mess this up." Penny sighed.

"Stop worrying Penny." Bernadette said calmly "From what I've heard from Howard everything at the venue is going according to plan, except a small fit from Sheldon but his mother sorted that out."

"I knew inviting his mother would help." Penny smiled.

The limousine stopped in front of the wedding venue. Bernadette looked out the window and saw that there was no one standing around the entrance.

 _Leonard is now at the front of the church and all guests are sitting down. Safe to enter now. I'll keep him away from you. – Howard_

"Quickly." Bernadette opened the door "Let's go to the dressing room and put on the finishing touches."

Penny took a deep breath, stepped out of the limousine as Bernadette carefully grabbed hold of her dress' train and walked towards the venue of her wedding. She couldn't believe this was finally happening and as she rushed to the dressing room she reminded herself to keep calm and everything would be fine…

 **Next chapter will be the actual wedding. Yay! Will Penny make it down the aisle and say 'I do'? And what will occur with Sheldon and Amy, Raj and Maria and Stuart and Linda?**

 **Thanks for reading. Please favourite, follow and review if you liked (or didn't. Whatever makes you happy). Thanks michiamoverano, kimbee73 , bamadude and SRAM for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	27. Chapter 27

The room was completely full of people in Leonard and Penny's life, whether it be recently or from many years in the past. Leonard was standing up the front of the chapel in his expensive suit, wearing the diamond cufflinks his father had given him and the tie that Penny recommended. Next to him were his four best men: Sheldon, Howard, Raj and Michael (who Leonard picked to be one out of obligation). On his other side there was a blank space were Penny would be standing soon and Bernadette, Amy, Penny's sister and Penny's cousin in purple bridesmaid dresses.

The ceremony had already begun. As per tradition the bride's mother walked down the aisle first and Penny's mother made sure to soak up all the attention. Then followed the best men, the bridesmaids and Leonard who walked down the aisle solo. The priest was next to walk down the aisle and he gave Leonard a small nod as he walked by him to the front. Afterwards there was the ring bearer and flower girl and they were Leonard's niece and nephew who both looked appropriately adorable.

After all this procession Leonard knew what was next. Penny would walk with her father down the aisle. Earlier he saw Wyatt being told my Bernadette that Penny was ready and he saw him walking out of the room.

Leonard took several deep breaths and hoped he wouldn't have a panic attack. He tried smiling through his nerves and hoped it didn't look fake. He didn't want the wedding photographer to capture that.

#

"Penny, Bernadette said ya were ready!" Wyatt walked into the changing room where Penny was standing in her dress. Her veil was sitting on a chair next to her. She was breathing in and out deeply. "Are you ok slugger?"

"I'm having trouble breathing." Penny took some deep breaths. "I think I am having some sort of panic attack!"

"Don't worry this is just pre-weddin' jitters." Wyatt consoled "Leonard is waiting for you at the end of the aisle and the ceremony has already begun."

"I know that this could just be nervousness." Penny said "But things have always gone wrong in the past at important times in our relationship."

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asked.

"Well after our first date Leonard made it out like he was too smart and we broke it off. When Leonard said 'I love you' for the first time I freaked out and we ended up breaking up. At our first attempt at a wedding he blurted out about his Mandy Chao incident and we postponed the wedding…"

"Wow those scientists really have made ya an over-thinker." Wyatt remarked "All you need to know is that Leonard loves you and that you love him. Because of this nothing can go wrong."

"Are you sure?"

"I am positive." Wyatt smiled at her. "Come on! We have a wedding to get to!"

"You are right." Penny grabbed her veil and put it on. "What do you think?" she twirled in her dress.

"You are most beautiful bride I've ever seen." Wyatt complimented "Except your mother of course."

"What about my sister?" Penny asked.

"She definitely looked pretty but none of her weddings were like this one." Wyatt gestured to the venue.

"This place is great isn't it?" Penny asked "Leonard picked it out."

"He is going to make a great husband." Wyatt predicted. "And before I walk down the aisle there is one last thing."

"What is it dad?" Penny asked curiously.

"I love you, slugger." Wyatt said with a smile. Penny gave a smile back. Her nerves had not completely gone but they had definitely been subdued.

#

Leonard kept smiling as he waited for Penny and her father. There was a few minutes wait and Leonard wondered if there was something wrong. He could mentally feel Sheldon disapproving of Penny's lateness to the aisle. Suddenly the bride's processional music began to play. Penny had chosen 'Here Comes the Bride' played on an organ. The whole crowd turned towards the back of the room to look at Penny. Leonard was anticipating this so much that he was shaking with nervousness and excitement.

Then Penny walked into the room. Leonard had yet to see the dress before this and it was spectacular. It was pure white with obviously high class fabric. The bottom of the dress was decorated with a floral pattern. But the best thing about it was that Penny was wearing it and she looked breath takingly beautiful. Her hair was in a small which with was wrapped around in a circle. Leonard couldn't help but gasp at how amazing she looked. His smile was no longer fake.

Penny and Wyatt walked with elbows linked down the aisle. Leonard could tell Penny was slightly nervous as she took small breathes every few steps. She kept looking back and forth between Leonard and the other guests and maintained a small smile. After some time they'd finally made it to the front. Penny's father lifted her veil and kissed her.

"I love you." Wyatt said.

"I love you too." Penny said back and gave another smile. Wyatt turned around to Leonard and put out hand to shake and Leonard reciprocated.

"I know you'll take great care of her." Wyatt said quietly to Leonard.

"I promise I will." Leonard whispered back. Penny's father then walked towards the front row and sat next to his wife.

Penny stood parallel to Leonard in front of the priest.

"I can't believe this." Penny mouthed quietly to Leonard.

"I know." Leonard whispered. The two felt all of their guests' eyes on them

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" the priest began to say. Leonard and Penny were concentrating on what the priest was saying. There was the opening remarks and a speech on how important their wedding vows were. "The bride and groom will now say their vows."

"Ok." Leonard turned towards Penny "Penny, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife. I vow to love and care for you as long as I live whether that be in a human or artificial body." Leonard smiled when he said this and Penny gave a small laugh "I promise that I will still be there for you in whatever situation: sickness, health or zombification, good times and bad times and even if there is another bad Star Wars movie I hope we can share the pain together." Leonard smiled when he finished saying this. Penny had a tear falling down her face.

"Oh Leonard." She said through another tear. "That was so sweet."

"Thanks. It is from the heart." Leonard said honestly.

"Leonard, before I vow I'd like to thank you for being such a positive influence on my life. Without you I would have never been able to make it through life in Los Angeles and I never would have made great friends and be the happiest that I've ever been. Without you I doubt my life would be any good. I have you thank and luckily I get to do so for the rest of life." Penny began.

"It was nothing." Leonard whispered jokingly.

"So, Leonard Hofstadter, I vow to love you and take care of you also. I promise to love all your faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life with and this will be the biggest and best decision of my life." Penny said her vows. Throughout saying it she couldn't help several tears of happiness. "I am finished." She said to the priest at the end and gave Leonard another smile.

Leonard noticed some of the guests in the audience were also crying. Penny's mother was raining tears and was holding on to Wyatt who unknowingly had a tear running down his face. The bridesmaids next to Penny were also crying and so was Raj. Sheldon, Howard and Michael had their ugly 'hold in tear' faces on and even Kripke's payed for date had a tear down her face. Leonard saw his sister awkwardly wipe away a tear before her mother could see. He noticed his mother looked bored.

"Now the rings." The priest said. Sheldon nodded and stepped forward. As the best man he carried both rings and earlier he kept forcing everyone to call him 'The Lord of the Rings'. He gave them both to Penny and Leonard.

"One ring to rule them all…" Sheldon began saying.

"Sheldon!" Penny exclaimed quickly.

"I'm sorry, I thought that was a good thing to say at that moment." Sheldon apologised and stepped back next to the other best men.

"Leonard, I give you this ring as a symbol of our never ending love for each other." Penny said and put the ring on Leonard's finger. Leonard's ring was a simple gold one with a small diamond.

"Penny, I give you this circular ring as a symbol of our love. Like a circle you will always be at the centre of my life no matter where I am located on the circumference." Leonard said with a geometry fact. The ring was silver with a large diamond.

"If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace" they heard the priest say. Leonard hoped that no one said anything. In his mind he listed people who would want to stop the wedding: Priya? Zack? Mandy? Vanessa? Kurt? His mother? Leonard looked at her and saw she was still bored and not intending to say anything.

"Leonard Hofstadter and Penny…" The priest began. Suddenly Penny sneezed and interrupted.

"Excuse me." Penny said. Some of the guests gave a laugh and Penny couldn't help but giggle.

"As I was saying." The priest continued "I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

Leonard let out an excited yelp and Penny couldn't help but jump a little. They'd managed to be married without any hiccups.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Leonard and Penny kissed each other and most of the guests stood up and clapped.

"Seriously? Kissing front of everyone, in public. If it weren't social convention I'd stop it!" Leonard heard Sheldon whisper disapprovingly to Howard and Raj. If he weren't pre-occupied Leonard would have rolled his eyes.

#

"Can you believe were married?!" Leonard almost screeched when the door to the wedding limousine closed. The two were being taken to the reception which was booked at an event hall nearby.

"I am so flustered right now." Penny said "I can't imagine how you are doing with your asthma."

"I'm actually breathing well." Leonard said "I haven't been near an asthma attack all day."

"I'm impressed." Penny said before kissing Leonard. A buzzing phone interrupted this.

"Seriously? Right now!" Leonard complained.

"You are the one who wanted to take your phone with." Penny reminded. Leonard saw it was Bernadette calling and picked up the phone. He put it on speaker.

"Hello Bernadette." Penny said "Why are you calling us after WE JUST GOT MARRIED!"

"I wouldn't if it weren't important." Bernadette clarified. "We are just getting all the guests into cars to go to reception and Sheldon and Amy are missing."

"What do you mean 'missing'?" Leonard asked with concern.

"Well we can't find them." Bernadette explained.

"That literally clarified nothing." Leonard told her.

"I'm sorry but we've looked around the venue and tried calling them but they are not answering!" Bernadette told them.

"What do you want to do?" Penny asked Leonard and Bernadette.

"We'll look around here for a little longer but I don't want to delay the reception." Bernadette said.

"When we get there we'll postpone it for some time but if they do not come we'll just have to continue without them." Leonard said.

"We can't continue without Sheldon and Amy!" Penny exclaimed.

"What if we have no choice?" Leonard asked.

"I guess our reception is more important…" Penny agreed "But make sure to look really hard."

"We will." Bernadette said before hanging up. Leonard and Penny gave each other a concerned look.

"There is nothing we can do Penny." Leonard said "He took the tracking stuff of his phone after we tracked him to the train station. Let's just enjoy our privacy in this car." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Ok, but only kissing. I don't want to ruin your suit." She said and kissed him once more.

 **Where are Sheldon and Amy? And did you like the wedding? I really wanted to give them a hassle free ceremony, so I did. I've never actually been to a wedding so everything about the ceremony is from the internet. Thanks for reading and favourite, follow and review to give feedback. Thanks bamadude, kimbee73, e29t4 and SRAM for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	28. Chapter 28

Sheldon watched as Leonard and Penny left the wedding ceremony. He couldn't help feel a certain amount of happiness which seemed illogical to him as he wasn't the one getting married. But he'd seen Leonard and Penny battle through many tough situations and was often the mediator between the two so to see them finally get married was proof to him that anything great could happen when it came to relationships. It wasn't something that he thought of often and rarely acknowledged to others.

"That was a beautiful wedding." Raj was still sobbing from before.

"I don't how a wedding can be categorised as beautiful unless you're talking about how the room looked." Sheldon rambled "In that case I guess the scattered flowers and the light from the stained glass windows made it appealing to the eye."

"Oh pish-posh." Raj said "I saw your cry face and you were emotionally invested."

"Whatever the case may be… um… I… well…" Sheldon stuttered.

"You can't lie to me Sheldon." Raj said "You are just too afraid to admit you are happy Leonard and Penny are finally married."

"Malarkey!" Sheldon exclaimed and walked angrily away from Raj. Sheldon walked through the crowd of guests that were now walking out of the ceremony room. There was a lot of loud talking and crying from everyone. Howard and Bernadette were getting the cars ready to take everyone to the reception and Sheldon knew it'd be at least a few minutes wait before they'd be able to get in one and leave. He walked out the building where there was a smaller crowd of people. He turned his head away from everyone and saw Amy walking away from everything with tears streaming down her face. Sheldon gave a confused look. He felt the urge to follow her because she seemed upset but he didn't want to submit himself to awkwardness and emotional girl time.

"Why me?" he said to himself and walked after her. The urge to follow took over him and he took off after Amy. Everyone was too busy talking about the wedding and getting cars ready to notice. Amy had turned a corner and Sheldon followed. The footpath seemed to take her to a park where he saw Amy sit down on a bench and put her head in her hands. Sheldon had so many unanswered questions. When he made it to the chair Amy didn't look up to see him so he sat next to her. Despite wanting to ask why she was upset Sheldon stayed quiet.

' _Spiderman. Spiderman. Does whatever a spider can…'_ Sheldon's phone rang out. Amy quickly sat up as if she was surprised anyone was there and Sheldon turned it off.

"Sheldon!" she said loudly.

"I'm sorry I turned my phone back on after the wedding and I didn't realise it'd be so loud…" Sheldon explained himself.

"What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" she asked in panic.

"I just noticed you walking away and you looked sad." Sheldon clarified "If you want me to leave I can go back. But if you need someone to talk to I don't see anyone else nearby."

"Fine. I didn't want anyone to see me in tears of sadness and not happiness. I needed to go away where no one would see me." Amy told him.

"Why are you sad? I understand that this wedding is a happy occasion." Sheldon was confused.

"Do you know what I was thinking about during the wedding?" Amy responded with a question.

"Does it look like I read minds?" Sheldon asked rhetorically. Amy sighed.

"I don't think talking to you is a good idea." Amy said and turned her head away.

"I would usually agree but I am concerned about why you are upset." Sheldon said.

Amy turned back towards him and began talking "Well during the wedding I began to cry because I was really happy for Leonard and Penny. I began to wonder about my wedding day and if it would be as happy. As everyone clapped when they kissed I started thinking about my own wedding. As I imagined myself kissing my new husband I realised the image in my head wasn't of Adam or even some random…"

"It was of me wasn't it?" Sheldon queried.

"How did you…" Amy stuttered.

"Who else would it be? Leonard? Stuart? Every other person would have been illogical." Sheldon explained.

"I am sad Sheldon that the person I subconsciously want to marry is someone who I can't AND it is all my fault." Amy said.

"It is also my fault." Sheldon said.

"It is all mine! I was the one who wanted to take a break and scared you away." Amy argued.

"I broke up with you after we reunited." Sheldon rebutted.

"Yeah only because I scared you away." Amy stated again.

"You only scared me away because you broke up with me. You did that because I wasn't committing to the relationship." Sheldon argued "At least that is what Penny said."

"But if I didn't take a break and work on our commitment issues as a couple…" Amy began before she stopped and paused "Are we really arguing about whose fault it was?"

"You'd think we'd have sorted this out already." Sheldon said and he couldn't help but laugh. He hoped since Amy was sad that it wouldn't be seen as offensive. He was pleasantly surprised that Amy also laughed.

"Sheldon, I have a question." Amy told him.

"Okay. I will not stop you from asking." Sheldon said.

"I know that ring your mother was talking about earlier was not from Lord of the Rings." She stated "What was it?"

Sheldon was taken aback by this question. Would it break her heart that he was going to propose to her right before she broke up with him? He couldn't cause her any more pain.

"It was nothing." Sheldon lied and tried to control his nervous tics.

"I know you are lying." Amy informed him.

"Ok. It wasn't nothing but it is now." Sheldon stood up when he said this.

"Are you going back?" Amy asked when she saw this.

"Only if you are coming." Sheldon assured.

"Just tell me the truth about the ring and I will go back with you." Amy requested and stood up next to him.

"I can't Amy." Sheldon shook his head. "You don't understand."

"Sheldon I promise I won't get angry if that is what you are concerned about." Amy assured.

"It is not that…"

"Then just tell me!"

"I'm sorry I can't…"

"Sheldon! Please!" Amy said a bit too loud. Sheldon panicked. He couldn't keep the truth to himself much longer and knew if she kept asking that he would tell her and hurt her feelings. He had to do something to stop her from talking. Instead of something logical he just did what came into his mind first. He moved his head close to Amy's face and kissed her on the lips. He thought Amy would do something like pull away and slap him. Initially Sheldon noticed her eyes widen in shock. However after that one second she didn't pull away. Instead she just continued the kiss and even went deeper.

It seemed like such a short time but Sheldon knew about his mother's statement 'Time goes fast when you're having fun' and he didn't realise how much was actually passing whilst kissing her.

"Sheldon! Amy!" the two heard a distance away. The two immediately stopped kissing and turned towards the noise. It was the squeaky voice of Bernadette who was walking towards them. Sheldon quickly got his handkerchief out and wiped the lipstick from his face.

"Oh my god!" Amy exclaimed. "Did she see what we were doing?"

"Firstly you don't believe in a God so that exclamation was pointless." Sheldon said "And I have no idea what Bernadette saw as I was too busy kissing…."

"Shut up about that! Bernadette is coming closer!" Amy ordered. Sheldon shut his mouth.

"Sheldon! Amy! What are you doing away from the wedding?" Bernadette's voice was now yelling in her 'Mrs. Wolowitz' voice.

"So you don't know what we were doing?" Sheldon baited her for answers.

"No. I turned this corner and I saw you two standing next to this park bench." Bernadette explained.

"Is that all you saw?" Amy questioned.

"Was there anything else for me to see?" Bernadette asked curiously.

"Absolutely not." Sheldon answered quickly. His face began to tic. Amy sighed at this.

"Well at any other time I would continue asking questions out of curiosity but today is Leonard and Penny's day and we need to get to the reception." Bernadette told them "Everyone else has already left and I'm only here on Penny's request to look hard for you!"

"Let's go then." Sheldon began walking back towards the wedding venue. He turned his phone back on a saw messages from many phone calls. Bernadette looked at Amy with suspicion.

"Did anything happen?" she asked Amy as they began to walk away.

"I'll explain later." Amy said "I don't want anything else to disrupt the reception."

#

"I'm sorry but the reception has been postponed for ten minutes." Leonard told all the guests that were sitting down at their tables. He saw the empty seat that belonged to Sheldon and the one next to Adam that belonged to Amy. Howard and Bernadette's seats were also empty because they were looking for the two of them.

"Typical." He heard Beverley shake her head in disappointment. Leonard took a deep breath so he wouldn't get angry at his mother. Suddenly Leonard's phone buzzed and he looked at the text.

 _Bernadette found them. We are now in taxi to reception. – Howard_

"Thank goodness." He sighed in relief "They've found them." He told Penny who also took a relieved breath.

Each round table in the room had ten seats with a two person table at the front for Leonard and Penny. Raj, Maria, Sheldon, Sheldon's Mother, Amy, Adam, Howard, Bernadette, Stuart and Linda would be on the same table but currently four weren't there.

"Where is everyone?" Stuart asked the others at the table whilst gesturing to the empty seats.

"Why would both Amy AND Sheldon not be here?" Adam asked.

"Howard told me they were missing." Raj answered.

"How could they missing?" Maria queried. Adam had a frustrated expression on his face.

"I don't know them well but I'm sure they are fine." Linda said. "They seemed really smart."

"Oh you have no idea." Stuart told her.

"My son was given knowledge from the lord." Sheldon's mother spoke up for the first time. The whole table gave her a look of confusion.

"I'm curious Linda." Raj changed the topic "Why didn't you choose to sit with some of Penny's other old friends. Surely sitting with us nerds is boring."

"I work at an animation company." She told him "I've conversed with lots of nerds. I produce shows for them."

"Before she was a producer she was an animator. She animated on Dragon Game." Stuart boasted for her.

"That show is a new classic!" Raj exclaimed excitedly. "Amazing!"

"My work on that show really got my career moving." She told them "I'm sure the same will happen to Stuart everyone sees his stunning backgrounds." Stuart blushed at this comment.

"Are we really not talking about how Sheldon and Amy are missing TOGETHER!?" Adam interrupted. The others at the table turned to him. The conversation suddenly had some tension.

"If it makes you feel better I doubt they are having sex." Stuart told him awkwardly. Adam gave him a look of derision.

"My son has been taught to not sin until marriage." Mary agreed.

"That doesn't help at all!" Adam said loudly.

"I'd advise you to keep it down." Maria said to Adam "Causing a scene might get you thrown out."

"Guys!" Raj interrupted "Sheldon and Amy just walked in the room."

All of them turned to see Amy and Sheldon walking towards them with Howard and Bernadette. Howard gave Leonard a thumbs up to confirm that everything was okay. Amy sat next to Adam and Sheldon sat next to his mother whilst Howard and Bernadette made sure to sit in-between these two pairs to intervene any commotion. Both Raj and Maria noticed awkward glances between Amy and Sheldon.

"What were you doing with Sheldon?" Adam whispered to Amy.

"Can we just get through this reception without an argument?" Amy requested. She knew it was bad to keep this kiss from him but amidst a wedding reception wasn't a place to reveal such information.

"Fine but I am expecting an explanation after." He told her.

"Hello everyone!" they heard Michael Hofstadter who was being the MC for the reception "I know it might seem odd to you that I am doing this but I am handsome and deserve to be looked at by you all." Leonard rolled his eyes at this while Beverley hit her head with her hand. "Anyways as per tradition cocktails will be served first and the newlyweds will open the reception with their first dance."

Leonard and Penny stood and walked towards the dance floor. The music began to play and Penny and Leonard began to dance with the moves they had been practicing for several weeks. Amy stared at the happy couple who were looking at each other with such love. She couldn't help being jealous and want a perfect dance at her own wedding. But it was not like Sheldon would have ever proposed and allow her to.

 **SHAMY KISS! Yeah repercussions will occur in the next chapter. How will it affect Amy and Adam as well as Sheldon? Also I couldn't decide on a first dance song so what do you think it would be? I might pick one from a suggestion so make it good. Thanks for reading and please favourite, follow and review. Thanks bamadude, SRAM, kimbee73, michiamoverano, e29t4, JessicaWarren and a guest for reviewing. Just to tell you this story is going to be winding down. It will make it to 30 chapters but probably not 40 unless I get more ideas. Then I can work on a new fic! But for now thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	29. Chapter 29

"This is such a beautiful song." Raj began to tear up again. The guests were all watching Leonard and Penny have their first dance to 'A Thousand Years'. The song was Penny's choice due to Leonard not knowing as much about music.

"You only like the song because it is from Twilight." Howard remarked "It reminds you about Team Edward loyalty."

"You like Twilight?" Maria asked.

"I own the DVD boxset." Raj told her.

Maria stared at him with fake distain. "This is closest you've gotten to winning that one hundred dollars." She joked.

"You have to be kidding." Raj hoped.

"Maybe…" she said with devilish smile. Raj could tell that she was lying but he still gulped.

The music stopped playing and Leonard and Penny finished their dance. They both bowed and everyone in the audience except Beverley clapped.

"Now the bride and groom will give a speech." Michael gave them both a microphone.

"Thank you Michael." Leonard said. He took a breath and began talking. "Thank you everyone for taking time out of your busy lives to come support us. The only thing that really mattered was Penny and I getting married but having you all here makes the experience even more magical."

"Yes, and I'd like to thank my father for helping me get over my pre-wedding jitters." Penny said and Wyatt gave her a thumbs up. "Also I'd like to thank my husband Leonard Hofstadter who found the initiative and funds to hire the chapel and reception hall. Without him I'm sure I'd be churning corn right now after failing at my acting career."

"Thank you Penny for doing everything from cake tasting to picking all the music." Leonard smiled "And for the record, without you I'd probably be failing to pick up girls at bars with Howard and Raj." Penny giggled.

After this Penny gave the microphone to her father who gave the couple his blessing. After this the first course of the meals would be eaten. It was a buffet so each table went up to get some food.

"This soup is great." Raj ate a spoonful when he returned to the table.

"Given how fancy this event is, eating soup is just an unnecessary spill hazard." Sheldon told him. Raj shrugged and ate another spoonful. Sheldon had chosen to eat some crab and salad.

"So Shelly now that everyone is eating peacefully can you please explain where you were." His mother said quietly to him to not cause a scene.

"I don't think now is the time mother." Sheldon said. He noticed across the table that Amy was wiping something from Adam's face and he cringed.

"I think I have an idea of what happened." His mother said.

"Really? If I can't read minds then there is no way you could." Sheldon said after eating some salad.

"That is no way to speak to your mother!" she told him off. "And I have a feeling you and Amy weren't just talking."

"Mother!" he suddenly exclaimed "How dare you suggest such a thing. You don't think I followed the social convention of not fooling around with another man's woman!" Sheldon's face twitched.

"Sheldon I need to talk to you privately!" his mother stood up.

"Right now?"

"I'll put you over my knee right here if you don't…"

"Okay then." Sheldon stood up and the two walked outside.

"You and Amy did something other than talk didn't you?" she asked.

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" Sheldon requested.

"I promise." His mother said.

"Amy and I kissed." He admitted "And by kiss I mean with tongues."

"Oh, Shelly." She seemed more shocked than expected. "What are you going to do?"

"I want to be honest but I feel it is Amy's duty to tell Adam." He said.

"I meant with Amy." She said "You clearly still want to be involved with this woman."

"That kiss was just something to stop her asking about the ring." He explained.

"More lies!" his mother said "The Lord wouldn't be very happy."

"I am not lying! But it is true if it was just to make her quiet that I would pulled away after a few seconds instead of it lasting a while and being quite passionate." Sheldon rambled.

"You need to decide whether this girl is worth it Shelly." His mother advised. "Decide if these feelings are just missing an ex-girlfriend or actually romantic."

Sheldon was in deep thought for a few seconds.

"What are you thinking Shelly?" his mother asked.

After a few more deep thoughts his eyes widened. "I think I know what to do." He said. "We need to get go into the reception hall immediately." His mother nodded and the two walked in and sat down in their seats.

"Did you have a nice talk?" Amy asked. Adam glanced sideways at her awkwardly.

"It was more than nice." He smiled "It even solved a problem I've been having."

#

 _7 Days Before The Wedding_

Saturday night was laundry night. But for one time only it was speech planning night. Sheldon sat in front of his computer with a blank word document in front of him. Leonard walked into the room.

"What are you working on?" Leonard asked before he saw the blank page. "Oh, I didn't mean to offend you."

"Don't worry it isn't something important." He said "I was intending to write my best man's speech for your wedding but I have no idea what to write."

"I'm afraid I can't help." Leonard said "If I helped it won't be as good when I hear it at the reception."

"Can't you just give me some helpful hints." He said "You gave a speech at your sister's wedding and you weren't even the best man!"

"Just write what you feel." Leonard hinted.

"I feel hungry." Sheldon told him. "And sleepy."

"What you feel emotionally." Leonard advised.

"I feel angry that Amy might have had sex with her new boyfriend." Sheldon said. This was just after Amy lied about that.

"Not what I was going for." Leonard said "What do you feel about Penny and I getting married."

"I feel sad because I never married Amy and this sometimes reminds me of it." Sheldon said honestly.

"With Adam and Vanessa there I don't think that would be a good idea." Leonard said.

"Feelings!" Sheldon suddenly exclaimed. He began typing furiously into his computer.

"What are you writing?"

"I feel minor romantic feelings for Vanessa." He explained happily. "I'll centre my speech about the happy couple and how Vanessa and I will be like that one day. It'll make Vanessa swoon and Amy very jealous."

"You want to start a Shamy war with your speech?" Leonard asked.

"No, at least I'll pretend it is not intentional." Sheldon gave a creepy smile. "This is so good! Once everyone sees how good Vanessa is they'll embrace it! Maybe Amy will even like her and she'll be more jealous I have someone so good!"

Leonard rolled his eyes and sighed. How many ways could this go wrong?

#

 _Wedding Reception again…_

Sheldon looked down at his crumpled up piece of paper. It turned out not even he saw how good Vanessa was and he crossed out 80% of the planned speech. He spent a lot of Friday after Vanessa left thinking of things to write about but eventually sleep was more important. And he'd been too busy all day to write anything else. He found a pen and began to write. The best man speech was after the first course and he needed to hurry. His hand kept cramping but he kept going until the paper was filled. He smiled when he re-read it.

"Wow your brain really is working hard right now." His mother remarked. "Are you sure you are okay speaking in front of such a large crowd? We all know about your fainting incident at your graduation."

"Don't worry Amy helped me overcome that fear using neuroscience?" Sheldon explained.

"Really?" Mary asked. She looked impressively at Amy who was currently putting some crab into her mouth.

"Yep." He smiled "We were going to get to my fear of nets but she broke up with me."

Suddenly Michael had found the microphone again.

"Yes I know, it is me again the good looking sibling." He laughed when he said this. Beverly shook her head in disappointment. "Anyways now the first course is pretty much over the best man will give a speech. I would like to welcome to the mic, my mother's favourite child, Sheldon Cooper." This was meant to be sarcasm but the Hofstadter siblings all knew this had truth behind it. Sheldon walked up to the front of the room and took the microphone.

"Thank you Michael." He said politely and put the speech he wrote down in the front of his eidetic memory. "As many of you may know I have always struggled with entire relationship paradigm. When Leonard began his odd fascination with Penny I had no idea why because they seemed to have nothing in common and were often awkward together. After they had their first date and Howard and Raj put a camera up in the hallway to spy on them I had no interest in joining in. I always thought the relationship was doomed to fail and not worth caring about. However I met someone who helped me understand. I don't want to name names but this person helped me realise why everyone sought after a relationship. It was spending time with someone who made your life seem complete. After she broke it off with me it felt like a piece of me was missing. I see now why Leonard and Penny needed to be together and why they've braved through some tough situations."

A lot of the crowd didn't know who Sheldon was talking about and were listening intently. However the people on Amy's table knew it was about her. Amy attempted to avoid the others' glances at her.

"The point of this speech is that I finally understand the connection between Leonard and Penny." Sheldon continued "Because of this I'd like to thank this person. For the record I will be moving on from this person after today, unless they change their mind before then, but all the guys in this room know how stubborn females can be." Sheldon disguised this bargain in the form of a joke. Some of the males in the room laughed but Sheldon looked straight at Amy as if to send a message. Amy opened her eyes in shock.

"Anyways. I hope Leonard and Penny have a happy life together." Sheldon said and grabbed a drink to raise it. "To Leonard and Penny."

"To Leonard and Penny." Other people raised their glasses.

"Now, as common for best men speeches, I will tell some embarrassing stories about the couple." He began "For Leonard and Penny there are plenty of embarrassing stories but I've narrowed it down to ten to tell you today. Firstly the one where Leonard proposed to Penny in the middle of coitus…"

#

"…Long story short the actor I hired to play my cousin Leo began a relationship with Penny and she became angry at Leonard when she found out it was a lie. Leonard lost charm with Penny and we'd introduced her to a boyfriend. Let me just say Leonard thinks before lying to her again." Sheldon explained the story to them. Some people laughed at this while Leonard looked awkwardly down at his plate. "That is my last embarrassing story for the night." He gave the microphone to Michael again.

"It is now the main meal!" Michael said "The buffet is now filled with the main course."

Sheldon went to sit down. "That was a nice speech Shelly." His mother said "It got a little weird when you started referencing Amy but you pulled through with those stories."

"Really mother?" he asked.

"My favourite was the one where Leonard asked her on a date and she thought it was hanging out with everyone and then…"

"Where did Amy go?" Sheldon noticed she was gone.

"She and Adam walked off amidst the stories. You mustn't have been paying attention." She told him.

"Do you know where they went?" Sheldon asked.

"Amy said she wanted to talk to him." Howard answered. "Adam didn't mind not listening to you anymore. They went outside to talk privately."

Sheldon wondered what they were talking about. Was it about what he insinuated about moving on unless she agreed to come back to him by the end of the day? He hoped the however that when it ended that Amy would be happy even if it wasn't him she was with.

 **Thank you for reading. What will Amy choose and what are Amy and Adam talking about? Thankyou everyone who gave song suggestions and the final choice was from firekeeper75. If you read please favourite, follow and review. Thanks firekeeper75, stardustvixen, bamadude, kimbee73, SRAM, michiamoverano and e29t4 for reviewing since last time. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	30. Chapter 30

The main course was absolutely delicious. Raj couldn't help admire every option from the buffet which included pizza, spaghetti, rice, schnitzel and honey soy chicken. He made sure to get at least a little of everything so he could try it out. He hoped one day to get married so he put the caterer's business name in his memory for later.

"This chicken is so delicious and so is this schnitzel." Maria came back with her second plate of food "I'm so glad that Leonard and Penny chose a buffet."

"They couldn't decide on one thing and Sheldon also kept contributing to the conversation so they went for everything." Raj informed Maria.

"Not everything!" they heard Sheldon exclaim from across the table "They didn't supply hot dogs to put in my spaghetti!" Amy hadn't returned from her conversation with Adam and Sheldon not knowing why they were gone, and for so long, was making him snap.

Maria giggled politely and comforted Sheldon. "Yes but I know the pizza is the same kind you order of Giacomo's."

"I guess you are right." Sheldon looked down at his plate with worry. He'd gotten some pizza from the buffet and was looking at it with suspicion.

"Anyways, are you enjoying this wedding Maria?" Raj asked.

"The ceremony was beautiful and the reception has the most delicious food." Maria told Raj "Best first date ever!"

"You count this as a first date?" Raj asked. "You don't count all the times back in LA?"

"Well those were as friends." She told him after eating another piece of chicken "I count this as our first romantic date. Those times were also important because it helped me see how great you were but this…. this is more special."

"So… do you think that we will continue after this wedding?" Raj asked.

"I am 90% sure that will be the case?" Maria told him "Unless you sleep with a bridesmaid or murder someone I don't think that percentage will decrease." She smiled at him when she said this. Raj gave the biggest smile ever. It had been a while since he'd felt such happiness in relation to relationships. Not since the beginning of his relationship with Emily when she chose to stay after he told her about also dating Lucy did he feel like this last. "Nice smile." She noted.

Suddenly Raj felt himself leaning towards Maria. He reached her lips and to his surprise she didn't pull away. The kiss lasted a few seconds before social pressure forced them to stop kissing in front of everyone. Raj turned to the rest of the table. Sheldon had a look of disgust on his face while Howard gave a slow clap. Stuart looked stunned. When Raj turned back to Maria again she looked slightly nervous.

"Is something wrong?" Raj asked.

"No…" she answered "That kiss was great and stuff..."

"I'm not sure 'great and stuff' is a glowing assessment." Raj stated.

"Can I tell you something private Raj?" she asked.

"If you want to." He told her.

She leant in close to him and began to whisper. "I've always been into my studies so I've never been in many relationships so intimacy like kissing is a little nerve-racking for me. In fact I've never even… you know…"

"You're a virgin?" Raj questioned whilst with a whisper.

She looked down as if embarrassed. "Yeah."

"Don't worry about that." Raj advised "We are nowhere near that stage in our relationship. And if you feel nervous about intimacy we can work on that together." Maria smiled at this statement. After finishing this conversation the two went back to eating. Raj didn't expect Maria to not have been in many relationships. Apart from serious talks like this she was always so likeable and bubbly that he assumed guys would line up to be with her.

Stuart and Linda were sitting next to Raj and Maria.

"That was interesting." Linda said awkwardly. She wasn't disgusted like Sheldon was by the kiss but she felt a little squeamish from public displays of affection. Stuart was staring intently at his rice meal.

"I just had a random thought." Stuart said with revelation.

"Not notable. We always have thoughts even if we don't realise it." Sheldon snapped again. Stuart rolled his eyes.

"What was your thought Stuart?" Linda asked.

"I've got an idea for the location of the camp in our story. The script mentions dense forests in the scene description but why not have it on a secluded plateau?" Stuart asked.

"One secluded plateau in the middle of nowhere?" Linda questioned.

"What if there was a location with many high plateau's that are usually unreachable by even the toughest climbers." Stuart continued "I just have this artistic vision right now for this location!"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea!" Linda said honestly "Do you have any real life location that we can use as inspiration?"

Stuart thought for a second but couldn't think of anything.

"It might be a little different to what you are imagining but there is an area in North Western Australia called the Kimberley with some interesting plateaus." Sheldon interrupted. Linda and Stuart stared at him. "You gave me something else to think about! What do you expect me to do but create some genius ideas?!"

"This is great Stuart." Linda congratulated. Stuart blushed uncontrollably.

"Well … thank you." He said with a stutter.

"Your face is going red!" Sheldon suddenly exclaimed "Are you sick?"

"Shelly he is just blushin'." Mary Cooper explained "Probably due to the compliment!" This just made things awkward for Stuart.

"I am not blushing!" Stuart insisted but more redness went to his face. Both Bernadette and Maria accidentally giggled and immediately covered their mouths.

#

Everyone at the table went back to the buffet several times but Leonard forced them to stop as it was time to move on to other people's speeches. Howard began a speech on how he was really happy about Leonard and Penny which Sheldon was disappointed by for being clichéd. Raj didn't get to do a speech because he kept crying and Stuart didn't get to do a speech because he kept stuttering. When Leonard's sister began a very professional speech Amy and Adam walked back into the room. Sheldon found it difficult to tell what their emotions were like based off of their facial expressions. They just sat down and began listening to the speeches. Penny's sister talked about how her marriages sucked and that she hoped Leonard and Penny's marriage didn't suck as much because all marriages at least suck a little. Penny's brother talked about how love was almost as good as drugs. Like Raj, Penny's mother kept crying but managed to talk about how much she loved Penny. Beverley stood up and congratulated herself for giving birth to Leonard and making this day possible. Leonard rolled his eyes at this. Amy found herself giving the last speech and thanked Penny for being her bestie and wished her an infinite amount of happiness.

After the speeches was more dances. Traditionally now was the father-daughter and mother-son dance. Penny began dancing with Wyatt but Beverley didn't want to dance so Leonard danced with Penny's mother. After these dances were over Leonard and Penny started dancing together. Other people began to dance with their dates.

"Do you want to dance?" Howard asked Bernadette.

"Definitely." She said in her squeaky voice and they got up and began dancing.

"You have to dance with me!" Maria screeched.

"I will bust my moves!" Raj said with an equal amount of enthusiasm. The two got up to dance.

Linda stood up. "Are you coming to dance Stuart?" she asked.

"You want to dance with me?" Stuart blushed again.

"I love dancing with friends." She responded.

"Friends?" he questioned with a sudden amount of disappointment. "Of course I can dance with you. But I'm not too good."

"Stuart no one cares! It is a wedding, just have fun." Linda said. Linda stood up and headed to the dance floor. Stuart got up, took a deep breath and followed her.

"I want to dance Shelly." His mother said "Want to come with me?"

"Nope." Sheldon refused "You know I hate dances."

"Well I'm not goin' to stand around bein' gloomy." His mother said. Mary walked to the dance floor and began dancing. The only people left on the table were Amy, Adam and Sheldon. Sheldon noticed Amy and Adam glancing at each other. Adam sighed and nodded for an unknown reason. Amy took a deep breath and walked towards Sheldon. Sheldon's heart began to race and his hands began to feel sweaty.

"Amy… Hello." Sheldon greeted.

"Sheldon I have something to say to you…" Amy began.

"I get it. You don't want me and that is your decision and as long as you are happy."

"Do you want to dance Sheldon?" Amy asked.

Sheldon was completely stunned. "What?" he said in confusion.

"Do you want to dance with me?" she asked again.

"Of course." He said, still with confusion. Sheldon followed Amy to dance floor. Amy began to move to the music and Sheldon did the same. He didn't know whether it was appropriate to touch her or not as a lot of dance involve a partner.

"Adam and I talked." She said.

"I am aware of that." He said.

"I have broken up with Adam." She stated "I've also decided to finally admit my feelings. I really want to be with you again."

Sheldon didn't realise it but his smile was really big. "Are you joking?" he asked. "Is this a prank?"

Amy almost laughed at his suspicions "This is no prank. I want you."

"I want you to." He agreed. Amy reached for his hand and took it. Sheldon put his hand on her hip and Amy touched his shoulder.

"I'm sorry my hands are sweaty." Sheldon apologised "I was nervous about your response."

"No need to apologise." Amy said "I honestly don't mind."

The two kept dancing without a single word. To everyone else's surprise they were the best dancers on the floor.

#

Sheldon's mother danced for a while but once she felt tired she sat back down at the table and took a sip from her drink. She'd seen what had occurred on the dance floor between Sheldon and Amy and she assumed that meant they were back together. Adam was still sitting at the table and was smiling.

"Why are you smilin'?" she asked him. He was watching Sheldon and Amy dance.

"They just look so happy now." Adam admitted "It is also a relief to let all the drama go."

"You seem like a very nice man." She remarked.

"I've also made some new friends out of this." Adam said "Amy was the first person who I hung out with in Los Angeles. And now I am good friends with Raj, Maria, Howard, Bernadette Leonard, Penny and even Stuart."

"That is a very good attitude." She said.

"She convinced me in our talk that this is for the best." Adam smiled happily "And I think it is."

 **SHAMY IS BACK! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Just for reference Adam is being completely sincere here. He is not scheming and he has gotten over his annoyance or anger with the couple. Please favourite, follow and review. Thanks bamadude, kimbee73 and michiamoverano for reviewing since last time. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye.**


	31. Chapter 31

The wedding was over. This was something that both Leonard and Penny could not believe. It was like a dream for them as everything had ended up going perfectly. Sure there was the whole bachelor and bachelorette party fiasco with Vanessa and then Sheldon and Amy went missing for a small amount of time but both of these didn't impact the happiness of the wedding. When Leonard and Penny left the reception to go to the hotel they weren't sure if Sheldon and Amy were now a couple but they suspected something from how they were dancing together.

Out of tradition Leonard and Penny left the reception in a limousine before everyone else. They made it the hotel and about twenty minutes later the rest of the guests were beginning to arrive at the hotel so they locked their room's door. The two took off their clothes from the wedding, very carefully as they had to return most of it before they left the next afternoon, and changed into something more comfortable.

"That was the best wedding ever." Leonard remarked.

"It was beautiful. I'd never have imagined it in my wildest dreams." Penny responded.

"I agree." Leonard nodded "Now we return to Los Angeles tomorrow and then go on our honeymoon the next day. We are really quite busy."

"I can't believe Sheldon got us that all-expense paid trip to Australia as a present." Penny said.

"To be fair he bought one for himself but once we explained that it'd be a very romantic trip for us he immediately returned it." Leonard said.

"Since you said something about getting busy." Penny continued Leonard's previous statement "Why don't we make this marriage official?" She gave Leonard a seductive look.

"Oh I think that is a great idea." Leonard smiled and the two got on their bed and began to kiss…

#

 _A week after the wedding_

Leonard and Penny carried their large suitcases up the stairs of their apartment building. Amy was walking up with them and also carrying a bag.

"Thank you for driving us from the airport Amy." Penny thanked "And for carrying one of our bags. We ended up buying more souvenirs then we expected and had to get an extra bag."

"That's okay." Amy said "How was the honeymoon? Was Australia nice?"

"We had a great time. We went all around Sydney and then up the east coast to enjoy the theme parks and the Great Barrier Reef." Leonard explained.

"I went scuba diving whilst Leonard went to fish museums." Penny explained.

"I can't do scuba diving because of my asthma." Leonard elaborated.

"Well anyways it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen." Penny said. "I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to that large rock…"

"I've explained many times that Uluru is nowhere near the East Coast of Australia." Leonard giggled a little at Penny's ignorance of Australian geography.

"Did you see any land animals?" Amy asked whilst walking up the last set of stairs.

"We went to a reserve and saw animals like kangaroos and koalas in their natural habitat." Leonard explained excitedly.

"So no dangerous animals then?" Amy asked.

"We didn't see any scary spiders or snakes or crocodiles outside of zoos." Penny laughed.

The two made it to Apartment 4a and Leonard unlocked the door. He opened it and found a large group of people shouting "Welcome home." He was almost taken aback and felt surprised.

Sheldon saw Leonard's shocked facial expression "I told you this was a silly idea." He said smugly.

"No, Sheldon, this is a great surprise." Penny said. She saw there were drinks and food on the kitchen bench and a banner hanging saying 'Welcome Home'.

Leonard and Penny looked around the room and saw Sheldon, Howard, Bernadette, Raj, Maria, Stuart, Linda and Adam. They were confused by the latter two. They didn't think Linda would be in their social group now. And they thought Amy had broken up with Adam.

The small party began. There was a light amount of music and everyone ate food. Leonard and Penny were making their way around the room. Leonard was talking to Raj, Maria and Adam.

"So how is everything?" Leonard asked them.

"We are officially a couple." Raj said excitedly.

"Yep I made it official after the wedding." Maria said with even more excitement "And I won 100 dollars from Raj."

"Worth it." Raj stated. "We counted our first official date as the wedding but our first date as an official couple was the day after we got home. We went out to a fancy restaurant and it was great."

"Also I got a near-perfect score on my assignment Raj helped me with. I have one more project to go and I'll be getting my doctorate." Maria screeched excitedly. "And to prove I'm not using my relationship with Raj for grades I've chosen a topic he is not familiar with."

"Good job Maria." Leonard smiled "I'm sure you'll do great."

"She will. She is really smart." Raj boasted.

"So Adam… how are you?" Leonard asked. He thought it'd be rude if he asked why he was there.

"I'm pretty good." He responded.

"Adam and I went to the movies together so now we are good friends." Raj explained for Leonard.

"We are even setting him up with one of my classmates." Maria said happily "We are going on a double date next week. "

"I'm really excited. I'm over Amy and am ready to get back on the horse." Adam nodded.

"Ew. Still sounds wrong." Raj shuddered. "Should be whores."

"It means you shouldn't give up. When you fall of a horse you get back on it and keep riding." Maria explained to Raj.

"You can fall of a whore whilst riding it." Raj rebutted. "That happened to me once or twice." And Leonard and Adam gave each other a confused look.

Whilst Leonard was talking to them Penny was talking to Stuart and Linda.

"How was the honeymoon?" Linda asked.

"It was great. I'm sure you saw the photos on Facebook." She responded.

"Yeah I did. Impressive." Linda stated.

"How is work going?" Penny asked.

"The board loved Stuart's idea for the camp location and adored it even more when he drew up some concept art." Linda explained.

"Linda says if I keep this up I'll be on the fast track for a promotion already." Stuart bragged "I even have some really good news to tell you…"

"Are you two a couple?" Penny assumed quickly.

"Um… well." Stuart stuttered.

"You see… that is…." Linda also stuttered.

"We can't say…" Stuart continued.

"Yes… exactly." Linda agreed with Stuart.

"Then what is the news?" Penny asked curiously.

"I have rented the apartment upstairs." He smiled. "I'm finally moving out of Howard and Bernadette's house!"

"That is great!" Penny said happily.

"WAIT!" Sheldon said loudly from across the room. "You can't take the apartment upstairs!"

"Why?" Stuart asked.

"You told me once that your parents forced you to take an Irish folk dance class as a child." Sheldon elaborated. "That means you don't meet the requirements."

Stuart rolled his eyes. "Come on Sheldon. Stuart does absolutely nothing that would make any noise." Penny tried to convince him.

Sheldon looked at Stuart disapprovingly. "Well I'll trial you for a period but you'd better be on your best behaviour." Stuart gulped.

#

Soon the party was over and everyone was getting ready to leave. For the first time Linda went to talk to Howard and Bernadette.

"I remember you." Linda said.

"What? No you don't…" Howard said nervously.

"You two came to my office and said you wanted to hire Stuart for your animation company." Linda said "It was you two who convinced me to give him a second chance."

"What? That wasn't us." Bernadette also said nervously.

"I remember your names were Bernadette Howards and Wolowitz Rostenkowski." She explained "Were you two just pretending?"

"Fine, yes, we were pretending because we wanted Stuart to get a job so he would move out of our house." Howard explained.

Linda suddenly gave a laugh. "Don't worry I won't tell him. He seems happy and confident to have gotten a job and obtained this success himself. I'd love him to keep believe that." She smiled when she said this.

"You care for him don't you?" Bernadette gave a suspicious look.

"What. No…" Linda shook her head quickly.

"Is there something happening between you two?" Bernadette asked.

Linda took a deep breath and said quietly. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"We promise." Howard assured.

"Stuart and I are going on a date next week but because I'm his boss we are keeping it on the down-low." She explained. "I don't want people to think he is sleeping his way to the top or something."

"Good for Stuart." Bernadette smiled "His life has really improved because of what we did. New job, new apartment and a girlfriend!"

"Not girlfriend yet!" Linda insisted "We are just testing this out to see if a relationship can work."

"Well either way I think we can secretly congratulate ourselves." Howard said smugly and gave Bernadette a high five.

Soon afterwards Howard, Bernadette, Stuart, Linda, Raj, Maria and Adam had left the apartment to go home. Leonard and Penny had gone to Penny's apartment to unpack so Sheldon and Amy were left alone. Sheldon was cleaning the apartment after there was so many people in it. He had disinfectant and was cleaning the kitchen bench.

"We are a couple now right?" Amy suddenly asked.

"Of course we are Amy!" he seemed offended "What do you think happened when you picked me at the wedding?"

"Well we haven't done anything outside dance at a wedding and hang out with our friends." She continued.

"That is because I have something special planned for our first date as a newly reunited couple." He couldn't help give a smile.

"What are you planning?" Amy asked.

"I am not giving away the surprise." Sheldon's smile became bigger. "Friday 7pm, Leonard will be driving so you don't have to worry about knowing where we are going." He explained. He went back to cleaning the apartment.

"Well goodbye Sheldon." She said.

"Goodbye." He responded. Amy left the apartment wondering what Sheldon was planning.

#

 _Monday after the party_

When Stuart walked into his shared office on Monday morning and saw several boxes on Debra's desk. He gave a confused look but shrugged and sat down at his desk to begin his work on some new backgrounds. He then heard the familiar sound of Debra's high heels walk into the room with a stomping pace. Stuart turned around and saw an angry expression on her face. She grabbed a box from her desk and saw Stuart looking at her.

"What do you want?" she asked aggressively.

"I don't want anything…" Stuart insisted quickly. "Well actually…"

"What is it genius?" she exclaimed. Hearing someone call him genius after being around Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard for many years was surprising.

"I just want to know why you are carrying boxes."

"Well I got fired because my work was 'not up to standard'." She quoted the bosses.

"Well I can see why…" Stuart began to say that the reason was when she wasn't pretending to use his work that she just sat around the office, drank coffee and occasionally drew something when a boss walked by but stopped when he was glared at by Debra.

"And meanwhile they have been praising your work left, right and centre." She continued to complain.

"I know they have." Stuart said "I'm very flattered."

"Well you suck and this company sucks!" she exclaimed "And I thought having sex with one of the board members would help me keep this job."

"What?" Stuart suddenly exclaimed.

"I've got to get these boxes out of here. I will not miss you when I leave!" she basically shouted. She grabbed a box and walked angrily out of the room. As soon as she did this Stuart couldn't help smile. His life at work had been great but the only thing bringing him down there was Debra's constant laziness and whining. He turned back around and continued to work.

#

 _Friday Night_

When Amy walked into Leonard's car she saw that Sheldon was not sitting in the front. He was sitting in the back seat and Amy sat next to him. Leonard was up front driving and was wearing a chauffer's hat.

"Hello Sheldon." She greeted "Hello Leonard."

"Don't talk to the help!" Sheldon immediately said "Leonard is being our driver on this special date. Just ignore him."

Amy gave a small giggle. "Ok then." She agreed. The two talked about movies and how their lives had been after they'd broken up.

"There is no way I'd admit this at the time because I wanted you to be jealous but I was really sad that we were no longer together." Sheldon explained. "I couldn't believe that I was the one who broke up with you."

"Well I did it first, remember, although I didn't break up with you I just decided to take a break." She explained.

"True." Sheldon nodded.

"I remember I was so distraught afterwards. I think Adam was just a distraction from that." Amy admitted.

"Whilst I was not happy with Adam being with you I have to admit he is a good addition to our social group." Sheldon added "We even went to the movies and he paid for me."

"I think he is trying to get on your good side since he thinks you might not like my ex being around. And his family is rich too." Amy explained.

"I don't really care but I'm not going to stop him trying." He said.

The car drove for a few more minutes until it parked.

"You are here sir." Leonard said in a fake accent.

Sheldon got out of the car and Amy followed. She looked at where they were.

"The aquarium!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"I knew you'd like it." Sheldon smiled "I know you have always wanted to go here formally and I returned the Thanksgiving tickets we had after we broke up."

"This is great Sheldon." Amy said. After paying to enter they walked around the aquarium and were in awe at the array of aquatic creatures. The two made it to the fancy dining area of the aquarium where Sheldon had a booking. They sat down at a table and ordered. The waiter poured some wine for Amy and lemonade for Sheldon.

"There is something we need to discuss." Sheldon stated.

"What is it Sheldon?" Amy asked.

"I think we need to make a new agreement," Sheldon said.

"Do we really have to make a new relationship agreement?" Amy asked "All that did last time was restrict us."

"Oh don't worry this agreement is very simple." Sheldon said.

"What is it then?" Amy questioned.

"I just want to postpone any sexual intimacy until marriage." Sheldon said "You know how I feel about sex and I want this to be the only condition of our new relationship. I no longer care about when we hold hands or when our date night is and I'll always look after you when sick so the sex requirement is the only thing I need reassurance for."

Amy thought for a second. She knew that she wanted to have sex with Sheldon. It had been something she'd wanted since they began a romantic relationship. But she also knew Sheldon would feel comfortable if she agreed with him about sexual intimacy and that she needed to respect that he was not ready.

"I agree." Amy said. To her surprise he held out a hand for her to shake and she shook it which made this agreement official. "I'm still wondering about something though."

"What?"

"Was the ring your mother talked about an engagement ring?" Amy asked.

Sheldon almost gasped in shocked but quickly recollected himself. "I don't want to lie at the beginning of our re-instated relationship so yes it was an engagement ring and I was going to propose when you told me you decided to take a break." Sheldon explained.

"Wow. I had no idea." Amy's eyes widened in surprise. She half expected some other explanation. "I suddenly wish we didn't take a break."

"Actually I feel like our break was necessary." Sheldon said.

"Why?"

"It was something we had to get through. It showed how much we need each other." Sheldon smiled when he said this.

"How romantic." Amy praised.

"I read a psychological paper online that break-ups can often bring couples closer together…"

"Don't ruin it." Amy interrupted.

For the rest of the night Amy didn't worry about the intimacy rule or the engagement ring. She and Sheldon just talked and played some intellectual games based around aquatic creatures. Amy was happy that she decided to go back with Sheldon at the wedding when it was her last chance.

 **Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be the epilogue. There will be a time jump and I'll write about how the characters are and what their lives were like after the story. I don't know if you will like Sheldon's requirement especially since they had sex on the show but I think it was necessary for Amy to respect Sheldon's aversion to sex to show how much she cares for him by waiting. Please favourite, follow and review. Thanks bamadude, kimbee73, michiamoverano and SRAM for reviewing since I last posted. Thanks again.**

 **ClintEye**


	32. Epilogue

_A year after Chapter One_

"I've ordered two pizzas." Penny told Bernadette who was in her, and now Leonard's, apartment. "I also have plenty of alcohol."

They were having a girl's night and Bernadette was the first to arrive. After all the development that had occurred in every romantic relationship they made sure that they all remained friends so girl's nights were often planned.

"You know I can't drink alcohol." Bernadette told Penny. She pointed her hand towards her stomach which showed a very noticeable baby bump. "I am six months pregnant. You're lucky I walked up all those stairs in one piece…"

"Well my mother drank when she was pregnant and I turned out fine." Penny told her and looked down at her phone "Oh my gosh! Kim Kardashian released a new photo of her butt!" she said excitedly. Bernadette rolled her eyes and saw the irony in this.

"I think I'm fine without alcohol." Bernadette still declined.

There was a knock at the door and Penny opened it. She saw it was Amy who had a big smile on her face.

"Hello Amy…" Penny greeted before being interrupted.

"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" Amy exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"What is it Amy?" Bernadette asked.

"Last night Sheldon proposed!" she held out her hand and showed them the ring on her finger. "We are now engaged!"

"Oh my gosh!" Penny said with excitement and gave Amy a big hug.

"Is that the same ring he was going to give you last year?" Bernadette asked.

"Yes. It is his Meemaw's ring." She said excitedly.

She sat down next to Bernadette and showed her the ring. Bernadette couldn't help admire how beautiful it looked. The ring would cost a lot if it were bought at a store.

"Have you thought of a date for the wedding?" Penny asked

"We were thinking October or November so we have enough time to plan but still a small amount of time so we don't get bored of waiting." Amy said "We just have to find a venue to finalise a date." Amy gave a big smile towards Penny.

"Do you know what I just realised?" Bernadette asked the other two.

"What did you just realise?" Amy asked.

Bernadette began to go on her phone and scroll backwards through her calendar. She stopped on May 2015 and clicked on a date. She showed the phone to Amy.

"May 8th 2015." Amy read from the screen "Girl's night at Amy's apartment."

"What does that mean?" Penny asked.

"Do you know what date it is today?" Bernadette asked.

"May 8th." Amy replied "2016. That means it has been a year since that girl's night."

"That was the girl's night when we all promised to help each other with our problems." Bernadette began "Penny promised to help Amy by helping Sheldon with his relationship skills, Amy promised to help me by convincing Stuart to move out and I promised to help Penny by convincing Leonard to get married again. And we all promised to help Raj break up with Emily."

"Wow." Penny said in disbelief. "I can't believe so much has happened in a year."

"And we all managed to succeed in helping each other. Leonard and Penny are married, Stuart has moved out, Sheldon is definitely more respectful of me now and Raj and Emily broke up." Amy told them all.

"Don't forget everything else that has happened since then." Bernadette continued. "I am pregnant, Stuart has a job that he is already moving up at and has a girlfriend, Raj has a new, less creepy girlfriend, Amy and Sheldon are engaged and Leonard and Penny live together away from Sheldon."

"The last one was a tough one." Penny nodded "But I see your point. So much has happened because of that. "

There was a knock at the door of the apartment and Penny opened the door.

"Speaking of what has changed since last year." Penny said as she saw Maria and Linda were standing by the door.

"Hello." Penny greeted. "Come on in." Maria and Linda walked into the apartment.

"What has been happening?" Linda asked the group.

"I'm engaged!" Amy said excitedly and jumped up from the couch to show the two of them the ring.

"Congratulations!" Maria looked almost as excited as Amy was.

"Does that mean you and Sheldon can finally … you know…" Maria hinted.

"Not until after the wedding." Amy told her "But I am very excited for that. I think Sheldon will be a very good lover…"

"Ok, stop." Penny interrupted "I don't need to hear about Sheldon's sexual ability." Amy and Maria giggled at Penny's disdain.

"Maria has some news as well." Linda told the group.

"What is it?" Bernadette asked.

"Raj and I had sex." Maria told them.

"Finally, girl." Penny said "You've been debating about whether to do that for months."

"But this is different than just the first time having sex with a particular person." Maria explained "It was the first time for me ever."

"Congratulations Maria." Amy said "It is weird that you and Raj have done 'it' before Sheldon and I but I am not jealous. Not jealous at all."

"You are so jealous." Maria joked.

"Am not!" Amy argued childishly.

"Anyways with the job I got after completing my PHD and my relationship with Raj my life is so great right now." Maria stated.

"So is my life." Linda continued the conversation "The TV show was a hit and Stuart and I got a promotion." She smiled when she said this.

"Who knows? Maybe there will be even more wedding bells after mine." Amy stated. Both Maria and Linda gave stunned looks.

There was a moment of silence until someone knocked on the door.

"Must be the pizza." Penny said as she walked to the door and opened it. It was the pizza but the person who was holding it wasn't a delivery boy but Leonard. Sheldon, Raj, Howard and Stuart were standing behind him.

"Here is your pizza ma'm" Leonard joked "I expect to be tipped well."

"Oh you'll be more than tipped." Penny gave a wink.

"Can we please stop wasting time?" Sheldon shook his head in disappointment "We just bought a video game and if we don't start at 8pm…"

"Alright Sheldon, relax." Leonard reprimanded. "We just ran into the pizza guy on the way in and volunteered to bring it up." He told Penny.

"Well isn't that sweet." Penny said and took the pizza.

"Congratulations Sheldon on the engagement." Bernadette said from within the room.

"You're engaged?" Leonard turned his head towards Sheldon with a look of confusion.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Howard asked.

"I was preparing to do it during the wedding scene in the game!" Sheldon sounded angry. "A sarcastic thank you Bernadette for ruining my moment!"

"My pleasure, Sheldon." She teased.

"Well we have to start playing the game or Sheldon will get even more…. Well… like Sheldon." Leonard said. "Goodbye ladies."

"Goodbye everyone." Penny and the girls said before shutting the door. The girls spent the rest of the night gossiping and playing games like truth or dare with a strict 'no technology' rule. The gang that we all know and love couldn't believe how happy things turned out to be. The help solution worked.

 **That is the end of the story! I know this is sad but I am planning on writing another Big Bang Theory story soon depending on my college schedule. It will be focused on Sheldon and Amy instead of every couple but the other characters will be there. Thank you bamadude, Jlove32, kimbee73 , SRAM , michiamoverano and Francine1223 for reviewing since last chapter. Thank you all for reading this story and making it to the end. It is very much appreciated. Thanks.**

 **ClintEye**


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